CHICAGO – Bears has placed the franchise’s label on veteran receiver Allen Robinson, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN on Tuesday.
Bears and Robinson’s agent failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal last season, forcing Chicago to apply the label or risk losing Robinson – the club’s best receiver in the last three years – in free agency.
Robinson’s agent Brandon Parker told Schefter in September that Robinson was unhappy that Bears refused to offer him top money for a wide receiver, but that neither Robinson nor Parker had requested a transaction before. last year’s NFL trading deadline.
“We have a history of expanding our players,” Bears general manager Ryan Pace said last week. “We usually find a way to make this work. The proof is kind of pudding with that. And each of them is different. Each of them is personal and that’s why I’m sensitive and I hope you guys understand about talking. about it in the media.
“But it’s a process. It takes both sides to get through this and each of them is unique. I like to build on our history. I think [director of football administration] Joey Laine does a great job of working through this and building relationships with those agents. Allen has a very good agent I’ve worked with in the past and it’s a process. We’re kind of going through that. “
The 27-year-old Robinson caught 102 career runs for 1,250 yards in 2020, though Bears’ offense struggled to find its way to the top until a late-season win allowed Chicago to sneak in. playoffs at 8-8.
In 2019, Robinson also led Bears with 98 receptions for 1,147 meters and seven touchdowns. Robinson spent four years in Jacksonville (2014-2017), where he won an invitation to the Pro Bowl after catching 80 passes for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2015.
Robinson suffered a knee injury at the end of the season in Week 1 of 2017, his final year in Jacksonville and was not fully healthy for the Bears in 2018. Even so, he recorded 55 receptions for 754 yards and four touchdowns. in 13 games played.
“I know Allen wants to be a Chicago bear [long-term] and we want him to be a Chicago bear and it’s a sensitive process we’re in the middle of, “Pace said.” And we have to work through it. “