Chicago Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson wants to stay in Chicago. The team needs to do whatever it takes to make it a reality.
The Chicago Bears have had an up and down 2019 season. They had high hopes of making an extended playoff run, but with the offensive struggles, they face an uphill battle just to make it to the postseason.
One of the bright spots on the team is the play of wide receiver Allen Robinson. Despite quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s struggles, Robinson is having a Pro Bowl type of season. With his 898 yards this season, he’s on pace for almost 1,197 receiving yards, the most since his career-best 1,400 yards in 2005.
Robinson is showing that he’s completely over his knee injury of 2017. He only had 754 yards last season but it was clear he wasn’t completely over the knee injury he suffered. He gave a clue of how good he could be when he had a great playoff game (10 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown, five catches for a first down). Now, however, he’s the player the Bears expected to see when he signed a three-year, $42 million contract with Chicago.
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Off the field, Robinson is exactly who the Bears envisioned. He’s helping the other receivers, especially the young ones like Riley Ridley. It’s great seeing him be a leader on and off the field.
Now, the time has come for the Bears to consider an extension. Considering how important it is to have an effective number one receiver, the team needs to keep one who is becoming one of the tops in the NFL.
Robinson stated that he’d love to stay in Chicago. He was recently asked about remaining a Bear and said the following, via Bears Wire:
"“Yeah, definitely. There’s a lot that goes into it… but as far as how comfortable I am here and how much I like it here, I definitely would foresee spending many more years here… I’ve really enjoyed my two years. We’ve won a lot of games. From an organization standpoint, it’s a top-flight organization and coaching staff.”"
Robinson went on to say that he’d love to end up being the Chicago Bears’ all-time leading receiver. Johnny Morris currently holds that record with 5,059 yards and he played his final game in 1967.
Chicago isn’t very well-known for a great passing game. They’ve had a ton of bad quarterbacks in the franchise’s history, and that translates to the receivers having a difficult time. Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad said Chicago was “Where receivers go to die.”
To reiterate what Muhammad said, Walter Payton and Matt Forte rank fourth and seventh, respectively, on the Bears all-time receivers list yet they are running backs.
In just two seasons, Robinson is already about a third of the way to catching up to Morris and already ranks 42nd on the list. It’d be nice to have the record-holder at least be in the modern era. Having such a low number of yards be the record for five decades is pretty embarrassing.
Robinson has gotten all these yards despite having a quarterback who struggled through a big portion of the season. Imagine how good he could be when the quarterback situation improves.
He has a great rapport with Mitchell Trubisky and if the young quarterback figures things out then the Bears could have a good and young duo threat. Robinson, despite being in the league for six seasons, is still only 26 years old while Trubisky is 25 years old. They could be together for some time and break a few records along the way.
Robinson has earned a new contract with the Chicago Bears. Yes, I know the team has a few areas they need to address but they risk adding to the needs by not keeping him. He’s a proven number one receiver and it’ll be cheaper to sign a long-term deal now than to try to franchise him after next season and risk losing him.