Chicago Bears: Team Needs To Stop Playing, Re-sign Allen Robinson

The Chicago Bears are playing a dangerous game by not finalizing a deal with wide receiver Allen Robinson. 

The Chicago Bears and Allen Robinson will work out a deal. We keep hearing that. Time keeps moving forward, however, and we see nothing done or even moving towards done. No one is complaining yet so we have to take them on their word that everything is okay.

The longer this goes on, though, the more of a chance there is that something bad happens. Sure, they could get something done, but at what cost? If the team takes too long to do something there could be bad feelings.

This wouldn’t be the first time something like this happened. Let’s take a look at what happened with former running back Matt Forte.

Some people consider Forte the best Chicago Bears player in the past decade. He was among the elite backs in the league, a threat both as a runner as well as a pass-catcher out of the backfield.

Forte spent a couple of years trying to get paid for his terrific performance. There were even “Pay the man” declarations and t-shirts all around Chicago and the NFL in support of Forte.

Still bad feelings years after

The Bears waited until practically the last minute before finally giving him what he deserved. That action left bad feelings, apparently.

Retired wide receiver Torey Smith made a rant about how former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause ruined one of the best teams in NBA history. Forte responded by saying it was common with Chicago teams.

Having played in Chicago for almost a decade this seems to be our Achilles heel! https://t.co/q89MA37h8E

— Matt Forte (@MattForte22) April 20, 2020

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Forte elaborated further by talking about his contract situation.

Having played in Chicago for almost a decade this seems to be our Achilles heel! https://t.co/q89MA37h8E

— Matt Forte (@MattForte22) April 20, 2020

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Forte certainly was worth the money the Bears gave him for the second contract (4 years. $32 million). He amassed 4,369 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns, and added 2,131 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. At the end of the contract, however, neither side wanted to deal with the other. He moved on to the New York Jets but he wasn’t as good of a fit there as he was in Chicago. The Bears’ running attack wasn’t the same without him.

The Bears are risking another Forte situation with Robinson. He sees the contracts given to free agents like Robert Quinn and wonders if he receives some of that money. He’s earned a new contract.

Robinson also sees how the Bears rewarded center Cody Whitehair with a contract extension before he started the last season of his rookie contract. This is Robinson’s last season of the free-agent contract he signed in 2018. It’ll be nice for the Bears to reward him similarly since he’s been one of the few bright spots the Bears have playing on offense. He had 1,147 yards and 7 touchdowns on a struggling offense and was the go-to man for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

It’ll be a shame if the Bears front office repeats the same mistake it made with Forte.