We have a trade, ladies and gentlemen! In an effort to give their offense a boost, the Chicago Bears swung a trade for Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen. Allen will now join a Chicago offense that has the likes of DJ Moore as his WR partner and D'Andre Swift in the backfield.
As always, trades almost often have a clear winner and a clear loser. That couldn't be any more true in this particular scenario. Let's dissect this bonkers trade and judge who between the Bears and the Chargers won this trade.
The Trade:
Bears get: Keenan Allen
Chargers get: 2024 4th-round pick (pick #110)
This trade is as straightforward as it can get. With Allen looking for a new contract, the cap-strapped Chargers were unable to reach a deal with multi-time Pro Bowler. As a result, the team decided to try and recoup some value instead of releasing him outright.
The Bears, on the other hand, are eager to make life easier for their quarterback. After building upon their defense last season, they are making a concerted effort to improve their supporting cast on offense. Signing ex-Eagles RB D'Andre Swift was a good preliminary move. Now, they have made their offense much, much better by pairing the excellent DJ Moore with another quality WR in Keenan Allen.
Let's grade the trade for both sides.
Bears: A
Absolutely fantastic trade. It might not have shown in the results yet, but Ryan Poles has quietly made solid moves to bring the Bears back from relevancy. Trading for Montez Sweat at the trade deadline last season dramatically improved their defense. He continued to make solid moves this offseason by signing safety Kevin Byard and RB D'Andre Swift.
Now, the Bears have found a way to add more firepower to their offense for minimal value by trading for Keenan Allen. The former undrafted Chargers WR has been one of the most underrated wide receivers in the entire league. Last season, Allen was on fire, reaching 1,243 yards on 105 receptions and seven touchdowns. With Mike Williams out for most of the season, Allen became the WR1, and he made the most out of it.
What makes the trade even more spectacular for the Bears is the compensation they had to give for Allen. A fourth-round pick for a player of Allen's caliber is an absolute steal, for the most part. How Chicago was able to convince the Chargers to settle for a fourth-rounder is beyond us.
There are obviously concerns with Allen. He's 32 years gold with more than ten years of experience under his belt. In the past two seasons, he hasn't been able to play the full season (10 games in 2022, 13 games last season). There's a chance he could regress. Still, the Bears aren't going to ask Allen to carry the workload of the WR group; that will fall on Moore's shoulders. All in all, there's a lot of things to like about this trade, and the positives far outweigh the negatives.
Chargers: C-
Before we pick apart the Chargers, let's first look at the positives here. Los Angeles found themselves in cap hell this offseason. It's been rough for the team this offseason. Even after restructuring the contracts of Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, it still wasn't enough. They've already had to let Austin Ekeler go in free agency. Recently, their offense was dealt another blow with Mike Williams being released.
Allen himself was seeking a new contract with the Chargers. Allen showed signs that he wanted to stay with the team, but Los Angeles' messy cap situation prevented that from happening. LA managing to find a Keenan Allen trade at least gives them some brownie points and avoids an “F” grade.
That being said… a fourth-round pick for a 1,200-yard receiver? Really? Los Angeles didn't really have any leverage in trade talks; teams knew that Allen wasn't re-signing, and they were “forced” to trade him. Still, getting just a measly fourth for essentially a WR1 player is an awful return. Had the Chargers waited a bit, they could've possibly gotten a bigger haul for Allen.
What makes the trade worse for the Chargers is the fact that they let Williams go earlier in the offseason. Los Angeles' wide receiver room now consists of Quentin Johnson and Jaylen Guyton. Considering their performances last season… there's not a lot of room for optimism. They do have the fifth-overall pick, though, which they can use on a wide receiver. Heck, Marvin Harrison Jr. still could fall to them!
Still, the security of having someone of Allen's caliber will be sorely missed. With Justin Herbert's contract ballooning, it would've been much better for the team to play out Allen's contract now.
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