NFL Rumors: Keenan Allen Traded to Bears; Chargers Get 4th-Round Pick in 2024 Draft

Keenan Allen’s time with the Los Angeles Chargers is over after 11 seasons, with the team trading the veteran wide receiver to the Chicago Bears, the Chargers announced:

This comes as the team was scrambling to get under the salary cap prior to the start of the 2024 NFL league year Wednesday.

The Chargers proposed a pay cut to Allen, which he declined Thursday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Allen is due to collect an $18.1 million base salary and count for $34.7 million against the cap next season.

First-year general manager Joe Hortiz wasn’t afforded much time to settle into his new job before he had to address a major problem for the Chargers. Just days out from the beginning of the league year, Los Angeles was $21.1 million over the cap.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler outlined the situation Sunday and reported L.A. was open to moving edge-rusher Khalil Mack or wide receiver Mike Williams to alleviate its financial quagmire. Even edge-rusher Joey Bosa wasn’t totally off limits, with Fowler writing that “multiple teams believe the Chargers are willing to part with several big-money players, including Mack, Bosa and Williams.”

Albert Breer of The MMQB included Allen in the group but downplayed the likelihood of him winding up in a new uniform:

Both sides were seemingly incentivized to reworking his deal.

Allen has remained one of the NFL’s most consistent pass-catchers since earning the first of his six Pro Bowl nods in 2017. In 2023, he caught 108 passes for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns, and his 95.6 yards per game were a career high.

The 31-year-old’s overall output was more than twice as much as the next Chargers player (Josh Palmer, 581 yards). Losing him will be a significant blow to the passing game, which is to say nothing of the equity he has built within the locker room and among the fanbase through 11 years in Southern California.

For Allen, the Chargers’ cap crunch presented the chance for him to earn a little bit less now but gain more long-term financial security while staying in Los Angeles and perhaps setting the stage for retiring with the franchise.

Instead, he’ll be plying his trade in Chicago.

Capitalizing on the Chargers’ desperation was a savvy workaround with how much the receiver market has thinned in free agency. Mike Evans and Michael Pittman Jr. both inked new deals with their respective teams, and acquiring Tee Higgins, who has been franchise-tagged by the Cincinnati Bengals, will be costly in terms of both draft assets and salary.

Allen was a more attainable target with less risk.

For the Chargers, his departure leaves a massive void in the passing game, one that’s almost impossible to fully address this offseason given the state of their payroll.