Report: Keenan Allen traded to Chicago Bears for fourth-round pick

The Los Angeles Chargers are trading Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears, FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reported. Chicago is sending a fourth-round pick back to Los Angeles as part of the deal.

Allen is coming off one of the biggest years of his career in 2023, totaling 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns across 13 games. That earned him his sixth career Pro Bowl appearance, and he’ll now head to Chicago to form an impressive one-two punch with D.J. Moore.

Allen has six 1,000-yard seasons to his career. To put that in perspective, only 18 Bears receivers have ever topped that number, including Moore in 2023. His 10,350 career receiving yards is also more than double Chicago’s all-time leader.

The Chargers found themselves dealing with salary cap issues as the new league year got underway this week, and Allen was in the middle of it. He has $23 million of non-guaranteed money remaining on the last year of his contract, and he’s soon due a roster bonus, according to Spotrac.

Los Angeles also released Mike Williams and restructured the contracts of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa to help create cap space. Add in Austin Ekeler’s free agency, and it’s going to be a new-look Chargers team in 2024 with Jim Harbaugh now in as head coach.

Keenan Allen is the latest addition for the Bears, who still have a quarterback question to answer

Adding Allen adds to an interesting offseason for the Bears, who hold the No. 1 overall pick for the second consecutive NFL Draft. This time, it’s coming from the Carolina Panthers. And unlike last year when they traded it, all signs point toward Caleb Williams heading to Chicago as the top selection.

That then leaves Justin Fields’ future in question, especially as free agency rolls along.

The Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers seemed like early suitors for Fields on the trade market, but both teams went other directions at quarterback. That’s why, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the market for Fields could be shifting in another direction.

Teams could consider him as a backup.

“Well listen, Justin Fields was connected to Atlanta. Never happened. They went and signed Kirk Cousins,” Schefter said on First Take. “He was connected to Pittsburgh. They landed Russell Wilson. He was connected to Las Vegas. Tthey went with Gardner Minshew. So all the places that have come up in connection to Justin Fields have looked to other places.

“What’s amazing to me about this is that Justin Fields is due to make $2.7 million this upcoming season. So there are teams out there that would rather pay all these other quarterbacks than Justin Fields.” 

Regardless of who’s at quarterback for the Bears next year, they will have an improving group around them. Not only are Moore and Allen going to be at wide receiver, but Cole Kmet is coming off a big year in 2023, and Chicago signed Gerald Everett as its TE2. With young tackles anchoring the offensive line, the Bears appear to be going all-in on their rebuild as general manager Ryan Poles enters his third year.