Chicago Bears Salary Cap Roundtable: Who should they extend?

We’re up to the third part in our Chicago Bears Salary Cap Roundtable, and this one is all about the player we think the team should extend. We probably should have led off with this topic as it’s the biggest no-brainer for the Bears to extend wide out Allen Robinson.

The Bears only gave him a three-year deal coming off of his knee injury, but he rehabbed to have a solid 2018 with 55 catches for 754 yards, and then he went off in 2019 with 98 and 1,147. His cap hit of $15 million in 2020 is eighth highest at his position in the NFL, but an extension with a big guarantee for the 26-year old could not only bring his number down this year, but give the Bears a long term number one wide receiver and security blanket for whoever ends up quarterbacking the team in the near future.

In an effort to dissect the salary cap decisions Ryan Pace and company have to make, a few of us at Windy City Gridiron are taking place in a roundtable discussion with our picks for one player the Bears should keep, one player the Bears should cut, one player they should extend, and a player they should renegotiate.

To help us out with this roundtable series, I’ve enlisted Over The Cap’s Brad Spielberger (Follow him on Twitter @BradOTC), who has extensive knowledge of the inner-workings of an NFL salary cap, and here’s what Brad had to say about this one.

Player the Bears should extend...

This is by far the easiest answer of the four questions. Allen Robinson II. It cannot be overstated how great A-Rob has been since arriving in Chicago in 2018. Opposing teams knew that Robinson was being stared at the entire snap as the only read on the play, and he still dominated games. Robinson will be just 27 years old heading into the 2020 season, and he recovered very well from the ACL tear that helped bring him to the Windy City.

There is simply no reason not to add a few years to his deal and in the process get some 2020 cap relief. If Robinson sticks around in Chicago for a few more years he can also start chasing Bears receiving records, which would be fun to monitor as his career in Chicago progressed.

Let’s check in with what the rest of the WCG crew had to say about who the Bears should extend.

Jeff Berckes: Extend Allen Robinson. Obviously, I’m a huge fan.

And speaking of those receiving records, you must check out Jeff’s deep dive he did on Robinson earlier this week in this fantastic article; A-Rob the Alpha Dog, Destined for the Record Books.

Jacob Infante: Extend Allen Robinson, because it’s a no-brainer.

Robert Schmitz: Pace has set a precedent that he rewards his best players for playing well, and Allen Robinson has certainly played well over his last two years as a Bear. Considering that it’s now looking like we won’t be paying our QB $30 million per year, send some of that money in Allen’s direction.

Ken Mitchell: Extend Robinson while renegotiating down his 2020 cap hit. Robinson IS our offense, and any man who can have 1,000 yard seasons with Blake Bortles and Mitchell Trubisky is one heck of a wide receiver.

Sam Householder: Extend Allen Robinson. This needs to happen. Robinson is the best, most consistent weapon the offense has and his loyalty and hard work should be rewarded.

Erik Duerrwaechter: Like everybody else here, I agree that Robinson is easily the most deserving veteran on the Bears’ roster when discussing candidates for long-term extensions. Plus, it can actually save the Bears some cap space, if they structure his new contract correctly. Get this deal done, Ryan Pace and Co.

I know you guys all agree with our pick, but is there another Bears player you think they should extend?