One of the biggest storylines surrounding the LA Chargers this offseason is the team's salary cap situation. After having one of the most aggressive offseasons in team history last spring, the Chargers are going to have to scale back and make some tough financial decisions.
Being one of the largest cap hits on the books and having a small dead cap hit this season, Keenan Allen has become a topic of discussion among the fanbase. A strong contingent of Chargers fans thinks the team will cut or trade Allen to free up space, replacing him in the 2023 NFL Draft with a speedy receiver.
It has long seemed unlikely that the Chargers would go in this direction but that has not stopped the conjecture among the fanbase. Perhaps Tom Telesco appearing on The Pat McAfee Show and directly shooting down the idea of a trade will finally stop the conjecture.
In an exchange on the @PatMcAfeeShow show, Chargers GM Tom Telesco said "It ain't happening" when it was suggested that he trade Keenan Allen to the Patriots.
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) February 28, 2023
Update: On Wednsday, Tom Telesco doubled-down even further regarding Keenan Allen, comparing him to the likes of Andre Reed and Charlie Joiner.
Chargers GM Tom Telesco on @gmfb indicates that veteran WR Keenan Allen isn’t going anywhere.
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) March 1, 2023
“He’s our Andre Reed. He’s our Charlie Joiner.”
Chargers would be silly to part ways with Keenan Allen.
Keenan Allen was producing like one of the best wide receivers in the entire sport when he came back from his hamstring injury. Yes, he is on the wrong side of 30 and dealt with lingering issues last season but the team's receiver room would be a disaster if they were to part ways with Allen.
The Chargers can free up salary-cap space in other ways that do not involve cutting ties with Allen. And while it might mean that the team has to part ways with a free agent like Drue Tranquill, Allen's impact on this team is far larger than that of Tranquill.
The team can still draft a receiver early in the 2023 NFL Draft to work into the system and eventually blossom into a WR1. Keeping Allen and drafting a receiver are not mutually exclusive things. In fact, the best way to maximize the talent and the depth at receiver is to do both.
It would be silly to take away Justin Herbert's most reliable and consistent target, regardless of the reason. Tom Telesco knows that and it is time that the entire Chargers fanbase starts to buy into that as well.