How Will Keenan Allen Impact the Chicago Bears? by Grant Winsauer

Late Thursday evening, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Chicago Bears traded a fourth-round draft pick for veteran receiver Keenan Allen. This is excellent value for the veteran receiver, who is coming off a career 2023 year with 150 targets and 108 catches for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns.

Now, the Bears have set up presumably the No. 1 draft pick, Caleb Williams, nicely. He will be coming into a situation with two No. 1 receivers to throw to, D.J. Moore and Allen. It is worth noting that Allen will turn 32 before the beginning of the season, but he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Allen played his entire career with the Chargers before being traded, and he played with several different quarterbacks during that time frame. The two quarterbacks he has played with are Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert. During Allen’s decade-long career with the Chargers, he has racked up 904 catches on 1309 targets for 10,530 yards and 59 touchdowns, according to ESPN.com.

According to Patrick Finley, before being traded to the Bears, the Chargers asked him to take a pay cut, and his response was, “I’m not doing it. I just came off my best season.”

Many people are worried about Allen's age, and they have every right to be. Still, Keenan Allen is a very reliable player and has had no significant injuries during his career. According to ESPN.com, Allen has played an average of 14 games per season in his 10-year career. 

General manager Ryan Poles is setting up his quarterback of the future with veteran weapons. Although I will say part of me wishes he had done this for Justin Fields last year because I thought he would be the future quarterback for the Bears for a long time. Nevertheless, it is time to look forward to the future, and I wish Fields the best in Pittsburgh and hope he learns everything he possibly can from Russell Wilson.