Allen Robinson Admits an Interesting Reason Extension Talks Are Slow

Allen Robinson has reiterated multiple times already that his wish is to get an extension done with the Chicago Bears. His goal is not only to bring a Super Bowl home to the city but to become their all-time leading receiver. However, thus far talks haven't progressed too fast. A lot of people expected the 26-year old would quickly have a deal done after Eddie Jackson rapidly received his own new deal a couple of weeks ago.

Yet days continue to pass with little progress. There is a number of factors involved in this. The simplest as always is the two sides figuring out the bottom line. That is the amount of money per year Robinson will make along with the guarantees. He averaged $14 million per year during his current contract. Obviously he'll expect a raise after delivering such a strong season in 2019. The question is how big it will be.

According to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times, there might be a reason the receiver is somewhat dragging his feet in getting a deal done. One that has nothing to do with the Bears but the wider NFL.

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“We’re just trying to figure this out. I’m sure that [general manager] Ryan [Pace], he has a lot going on, stuff he’s trying to figure out. . . . Also, I’m just preparing, going into a contract year. Because it is the last year of my deal, and there’s nothing I can do solely to change that myself.”

Though he leaves such strategy to his agent, Robinson acknowledged it would be beneficial if the NFL and the NFLPA were to reach a collective-bargaining agreement before the start of the league year. That would potentially raise the salary cap — and mean more negotiating power for a player such as Robinson, who caught 98 passes for 1,147 yards in 2019.

“I want to be in Chicago, if they’ll have me,” he said. “The biggest thing is, I can’t make that happen by myself. I just gotta control what I can control. I know that everything will probably play out fine.”

Allen Robinson is playing wait-and-see before committing

Honestly, this is a wise decision on Robinson's part. By waiting to see if the new CBA gets hammered out, he'd have a chance to demand a little more money from the Bears. It's nothing personal. Just a business decision. Odds are things will begin to move in one direction or another by the end of March. That is when the new league year will begin. If the CBA isn't agreed upon by then, Robinson will know where he stands.

Typically, GM Ryan Pace has a set schedule when it comes to extending players. Extensions get done right before the regular season begins. It was true with Eddie Goldman, Akiem Hicks, and Charles Leno Jr. The situation with Jackson was an exception to that rule. Odds are unless there's a significant shift in desire for either side, Robinson's extension will be completed somewhere around the end of August.