How Allen Robinson Foreshadowed His Contract Dispute 7 Months Ago

Allen Robinson has done the best he can to hide his frustrations over a lack of progress on his contract talks with the Chicago Bears. It’s clear the two sides want to work something out, but the numbers just aren’t coalescing. Robinson reportedly wants somewhere around $18 million per year. The Bears are rumored to be hovering around $17 million now after the extension of Robert Woods in Los Angeles.

The belief around the league is that the projected drop of the 2021 salary cap is a huge key to this situation. The Bears are projected to be very limited on space next season with 30 free agents to juggle including Robinson. They have to manage their finances more carefully than usual, and that has led to this ongoing stalemate.

So what happens next? Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune offered an interesting nugget in his recent mailbag. While he’s convinced the team is fully intent on keeping Robinson around, the extension may not happen this year. That means Robinson is a virtual lock to get the franchise tag next spring.

“I also wouldn’t worry at this point about Robinson’s future with the team. The Bears want to keep him around, and the franchise tag is always a possibility (maybe a likelihood) for top-tier players coming out of contract.”

Did Allen Robinson already see this coming?

Current projections are the franchise tag number for wide receivers in 2021 will be around $15.3 million. That is lower than what it would’ve been this year due to the expected drop in the salary cap. So one can only imagine what Robinson is thinking about the prospect of playing another year in his prime at a price he doesn’t feel he’s worth.

Here is an interesting question as well. Did the wide receiver see this standoff coming? Back in February, the NFL was in the midst of trying to hammer out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFLPA. On the 26th, Robinson tweeted this out.

Get the franchise tag out the new CBA

— Allen Robinson II (@AllenRobinson) February 26, 2020

Then this just under a month later.

Then can franchise tag you whenever your about to be a FA. Only way out of it is to have it negotiated into your deal. A no franchise tag clause

— Allen Robinson II (@AllenRobinson) March 16, 2020

Seeing that now with the knowledge of where things stand? It’s fair to wonder if the man knew he was going to get into a dispute with the Bears and knew the tag was almost certainly going to come into play. Pushing to remove the tag would’ve given him a ton of extra leverage. It didn’t happen. Now he’s in a rough spot.

Either he holds out for the money he wants and likely gets tagged next year. Or he accepts the Bears’ offer at the number they want. Based on how things have gone, it looks like he may have made his decision.