LA Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz was put in a not-so-friendly salary-cap situation when he took over the team this offseason. Los Angeles was well over the 2024 salary cap, forcing Hortiz to make a slew of moves to make the team cap compliant.
Mike Williams was cut while both Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack restructured their contracts, taking a pay cut in the process. Fan-favorite wide receiver Keenan Allen was unwilling to take the same pay cut, resulting in the Chargers doing the only thing the team could: trade him.
Allen was traded to a Chicago Bears team that is actually exciting ahead of the 2024 season with Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze joining the roster. As exciting as the Bears are, it is not guaranteed to be a long-term home for Allen, who is going to look to cash in on his last real chance for a big payday once his contract expires.
Allen's upcoming contract negotiations are as important as it gets and the Pro Bowl wide receiver seemingly didn't think his former agent was up for the job. Just months after being traded, Allen has switched representation to Klutch Sports.
Six-time Pro Bowl WR Keenan Allen — a pending free agent who said recently he’s open to a contract extension with the #Bears — has made a switch in representation, hiring @ZekeSandhu and @BilboDamarius of @KlutchSports. pic.twitter.com/6lmdX3ohGz
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 12, 2024
Keenan Allen curiously fires agent after being traded from Chargers to Bears
Allen choosing to fire his agent and switch representation just months after being traded by the Chargers certainly is curious. If this happened sooner it probably would not have changed the fact that he was traded, but it does raise questions around how Allen feels about the entire situation.
The star wide receiver was ultimately traded after extension talks between he and the team stalled out. Hortiz previously stated that the Chargers made multiple extension offers to Allen, to which Allen's (now former) agent Joby Branion responded publicly (h/t Daniel Popper, The Athletic).
According to Branion on social media, the Chargers only offered one extension to Allen. Branion said it was "pay cut for 2024 with a 2-year extension (and both years had even deeper cuts to his current pay). We made a counter offer. It was rejected.". According to Branion, they then learned about the team's intention to trade Allen.
After being traded, Allen and his former representation had the chance to work out an extension with his new team. Nothing came to fruition and now Allen is represented by someone else as he looks to cash in on his last big payday in the league.
Perhaps Allen's former agent oversold his value on the open market? As great as Allen is, he is on the wrong side of 30 and teams notoriously don't spend big money on older receivers. It is fair to assume that the Chargers' offer had that in mind, and perhaps Allen was being told that he could get way more.
Being traded to Chicago, and having discussions with a second team, may have been an eye-opener to Allen that he was not in a position to maximize his earnings. Now Allen has to have another great year or he will end up making far less than the Chargers likely offered him before.
If Allen made this switch before the 2024 offseason began then perhaps his situation with the Chargers would have been completely different. Unfortunately for Chargers fans, we will never know the answer to that question.