Chargers fans should wish Keenan Allen never left
It has been a week since Keenan Allen was traded to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick and it still does not feel real. Trading Allen away this offseason was the most heartbreaking move this regime could have made and it made it without any hesitation.
General manager Joe Hortiz was looking to free up cap space and Allen was the one veteran who was not willing to take a pay cut, and rightfully so. Thus, with Allen having more trade value than Khalil Mack or Joey Bosa, he became the one who got shipped away.
When you look at the trade from a 10,000-foot view it makes some sense. The Chargers needed to create space and it is better to trade someone for a fourth-round pick than waive another player for nothing. That being said, that does not factor in the roster needs or the emotional element.
The Chargers need to be making Justin Herbert's life easier, not harder, and parting ways with his two top receivers this offseason makes his life harder. After the Allen trade the Chargers have the worst wide receiver room in the sport. Hortiz will likely add to it with the fifth overall pick but that alone will not be enough.
Los Angeles also has another starting-quality edge rusher in Tuli Tuipulotu, so getting rid of Mack or Bosa would have been easier to shoulder with a replacement in-house. But alas, the front office is obviously confident in rebuilding the room in the draft and getting more out of Joshua Palmer and Quentin Johnston.
Only time will tell if that confidence is misplaced.