Bears Franchise Tag Allen Robinson
One of the big dominoes has now officially dropped. The Bears have placed the franchise tag on star receiver Allen Robinson, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
This news was expected, as Chicago has insisted all along they aren’t going to let Robinson walk. This is the second consecutive year the team has tagged Robinson. There’s been some strife between the franchise and the player, and although Robinson has said he isn’t opposed to continuing to play for the Bears, he’s also made it clear he didn’t want to be tagged. Robinson now joins Chris Godwin as top receivers getting tagged, while the Lions are letting Kenny Golladay hit the open market.
We heard a few weeks ago that the two sides hadn’t had any talks about an extension since way back in September, so they’re at a bit of a stalemate. Robinson, who is reportedly seeking top of the receiver market money on any long-term deal, was liking tweets encouraging him to skip town late in the year.
This doesn’t guarantee Robinson will be back in Chicago in 2021, as it’s been reported that a tag and trade scenario is a strong possibility. The Bears could realize they’re never going to pay Robinson what he wants on a massive contract and decide to get something out of him while they can. The tag is slated to pay him around $18MM if he plays under it this coming year.
The Penn State product has been incredibly consistent over the years considering the inconsistent quarterbacks he’s been paired with. He’s put up at least 1,147 yards and six touchdowns in each of the past two years.
Bears To Decline Bobby Massie’s Option?
The Bears are not likely to exercise the option on Bobby Massie’s contract, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). By letting the tackle walk, the Bears will save upwards of $5MM against the 2021 salary cap. 
[RELATED: Bears Plan To Pursue Wilson Trade]
Massie may not be a world-beater, but he is an experienced starter at a premium position. Unfortunately, a knee injury cut his 2020 season at the midway point, and his 2019 was limited by an ankle issue.
Massie’s been with the Bears since signing a three-year deal with them in 2016. Before the 2019 season, he agreed to a four-year extension worth $8MM+ per year. The Bears could keep him through 2022, but they’d prefer to go younger, cheaper, and healthier at right tackle.
The salary cap figure is still TBD, but the Bears need to do some spring cleaning regardless of where the number stands. Even after dropping Massie, there will be more moves to come. And, if they make a play for Russell Wilson, they’ll have some especially difficult decisions to make.
Bears Plan To Pursue Russell Wilson Trade
The Bears are taking their status as one of Russell Wilson‘s acceptable destinations seriously. They plan to prioritize making a run at the Seahawks quarterback, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune notes.
Wilson’s agent listed the Bears, Cowboys, Raiders and Saints as the teams for whom he would agree to waive his no-trade clause. The Seahawks passer has made it clear he is not happy with the present state of affairs in Seattle. For the first time, envisioning the nine-year veteran quarterbacking another team does not seem foolish.
As of now, the Seahawks do not want to trade Wilson, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes. It would tag Seattle with a record $39MM in dead money to make such a trade, assuming a deal commenced before June 1. Wilson has not officially requested a trade, but the way this developing saga has played out, that news would not be especially surprising. Of course, it would take a monster offer to pry Wilson from the team that drafted him.
Chicago still has Nick Foles under contract, and the journeyman QB may still loom as a fallback option for a Bears team that has featured a need at quarterback for much of the past 30 years. The Bears were involved in the Carson Wentz and Matthew Stafford sweepstakes, being tied more closely to the former. But no offer emerged, and Wentz is now a Colt. Chicago has not been closely connected to Deshaun Watson, though it would seem the team would love to be involved in those sweepstakes.
Wilson would carry far more trade value than either Stafford or Wentz, and with the Bears not having a viable QB1 to include in a trade and holding the No. 20 overall pick, presenting an offer the Seahawks would entertain will be difficult. Other options for the Bears include signing a stopgap-type QB to fill free agent Mitchell Trubisky‘s spot or drafting one in the first round, Biggs adds. Though, it is possible the team would need to trade up to land one of the top five QBs in this year’s draft pool.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/3/21
Catching up on some minor moves from what has been a busy day as we all gear up for free agency:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: CB Jalen Davis, LS Clark Harris
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed ERFAs: OL Alex Bars, LB Josh Woods, LB James Vaughters, RB Ryan Nall, TE J.P. Holtz
Las Vegas Raiders
- Re-signed RFA: LS Trent Sieg (to three-year extension)
San Francisco 49ers
- Claimed off waivers from Texans: DB Mark Fields
Bears GM: Robinson Franchise Tag On Table
Allen Robinson served as the Bears’ clear-cut top skill-position option over the past three seasons, and his second run at free agency may not come to pass.
Rumblings of the Bears being prepared to use their franchise tag on the No. 1 receiver surfaced last month, and GM Ryan Pace broached the subject Tuesday.
“The franchise tag is an option for us,” Pace said, via The Athletic’s Adam Jahns (on Twitter). “It doesn’t mean we’re necessarily going to use that. But we want to keep our good players. And Allen is a good player for us.”
Fellow receiver tag candidates Chris Godwin and Kenny Golladay would be straightforward tag recipients, but Robinson being on a veteran deal that counted $15MM against the Bears’ cap last season would drive up his tag price. The CBA mandates players be tagged at either the cap-determined figure for their respective position or 120% of their prior year’s salary, whichever number is greater. The latter scenario would apply to Robinson, whose tag price would be $18MM.
That will put the Bears to a decision, with the cap set to fall to perhaps by nearly $20MM from its $198MM place. Even after cutting Buster Skrine on Monday, the Bears have less than $1MM in projected cap space.
But Robinson, 27, has been far and away Chicago’s top receiving option since joining the team three years ago. His 1,250 receiving yards this past season, with lower-end QBs Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles throwing him passes, played a key role in Chicago booking a postseason berth.
Robinson’s negotiations with the Bears did not go smoothly last year, and while a tag would mean a nice one-year payday, the sides do not appear to have a smooth path to an extension by the July 15 deadline. But with Pace and Matt Nagy on hot seats, the Bears keeping Robinson certainly makes sense. The franchise will soon need to determine who will throw him passes, however.
Bears Hire Ex-Texas HC Tom Herman
Matt Nagy decided to add an experienced college head coach to his staff. Former Texas and Houston HC Tom Herman will join the Bears as an offensive analyst, the team announced.
Fired after four seasons with the Longhorns, Herman is 54-22 in six seasons as a college HC. He has spent his entire career in the college game, beginning that run in the late 1990s.
Herman, 45, has an offensive coaching background. He worked as offensive coordinator at Iowa State and Ohio State from 2009-14, spending three seasons under Urban Meyer in Columbus before taking the Houston HC job. Herman, who was in charge of a Buckeyes national championship-winning offense that lost two QBs due to injury (in 2014, when both Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett went down), has been either a college head coach or offensive coordinator since 2005.
Nagy has not been averse to bringing in college coaches for his staff. His hired ex-Oregon HC Mark Helfrich as his first OC with the Bears; that partnership lasted two years. Bill Lazor currently serves as Chicago’s OC.
Bears To Release CB Buster Skrine
After two seasons, the Bears will move on from Buster Skrine. Chicago will make the veteran cornerback a cap casualty, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Skrine signed with the Bears in 2019, landing in Chicago after four seasons with the Jets. The veteran slot corner has managed to reach 10 NFL seasons. An 11th would mean another relocation.
This move comes ahead of a $500K roster bonus Skrine was due to collect. He will turn 32 in April. Skrine played 28 games with the Bears, with his tenure coming exclusively under DC Chuck Pagano. Both are out of the picture now. Because of the two void years tacked onto the end of Skrine’s three-year deal, the Bears will save just $2.7MM by making this move. Entering Monday, the Bears were barely $2MM over the projected salary cap.
Skrine played 52% of the Bears’ defensive snaps in 2020, grading as Pro Football Focus’ No. 92 overall corner. The former Browns fifth-round pick has started 92 games in his career but will now enter a buyer’s market, with the cap set to drop.
The Skrine release marks the second straight year in which the Bears have cut a 30-something cornerback contributor. They made Prince Amukamara a cap casualty ahead of the 2020 league year.
The Only NFL Players With No-Trade Clauses
It’s fairly common for disgruntled NFL players to give their teams a short list of acceptable trade destinations. However, it’s still quite rare for players to hold contractual veto power over a trade. Currently, there are only nine NFL players with a no-trade clause in their deals, as ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets:
▪️ Drew Brees, QB (Saints)
▪️ Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, OL (Chiefs)
▪️ Jimmy Garoppolo, QB (49ers)
▪️ Jimmy Graham, TE (Bears)
▪️ DeAndre Hopkins, WR (Cardinals)
▪️ Patrick Mahomes, QB (Chiefs)
▪️ Deshaun Watson, QB (Texans)
▪️ J.J. Watt, DL (Cardinals)
▪️ Russell Wilson, QB (Seahawks)
The Chiefs, who represent 25% of the list, furnished LDT with a NTC as a part of his contract restructure. Historically, there haven’t been many offensive lineman to secure the clause. However, Duvernay-Tardif had a bit of leverage in 2020 when the Chiefs needed extra cap room. He was scheduled to count for nearly $9MM, $6.45MM of which was comprised of base salary. Instead, he converted some of that money into a signing bonus over the remaining three years and came away with a perk typically reserved for quarterbacks.
Watson and Wilson are among the QBs who can block trades. They’re both putting it to use, albeit in different ways. Watson wants out — even after finally meeting with new head coach David Culley – and he’s steering himself towards a small group of teams, including the Dolphins and Panthers. Wilson, meanwhile, says that he doesn’t want to get traded and doesn’t expect to get traded. But, if the Seahawks do shop him, he wouldn’t mind joining up with the Bears, Cowboys, Saints or Raiders. In beating out several other teams for Watt, the Cardinals included the clause in the star defender’s contract.
Bears Re-Sign RB Ryan Nall
Ryan Nall is sticking around Chicago. The Bears have re-signed the third-year running back, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (and passed along by Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com). The 25-year-old was an impending exclusive rights free agent.
The former undrafted free agent out of Oregon State joined the Bears back in 2018. He spent the majority of his rookie campaign on the practice squad, but he’s gradually gotten more playing team over the past two years. After collecting a pair of carries in eight games in 2019, Nall saw time in all 16 games this past season. He finished the year with eight receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown, appearing in 68 offensive snaps. He also saw time on 294 special teams snaps, compiling four tackles.
The Bears clearly value Nall’s special teams prowess, but barring another move, it’s unlikely he’ll take on a significantly larger role on offense. Chicago is currently rostering David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen, and Artavis Pierce, although the depth chart could theoretically see a shake up with new running backs coach Michael Pitre leading the way.
Seahawks’ Russell Wilson Open To Cowboys, Saints, Raiders, Bears
Russell Wilson has not demanded a trade, agent Mark Rodgers tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). However, the quarterback has told the Seahawks that if a trade were to be considered, he would be willing to join the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders, or Bears. Wilson, armed with a no-trade clause, will not consider any team outside of that group. 
The Jets, Dolphins, and Panthers have been heavily linked to Deshaun Watson and would surely be interested in Wilson. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t make the cut. Ditto for the Broncos, Patriots, 49ers, and the Washington Football team, who were runners-up for Matthew Stafford. Of course, it’d be difficult to imagine Wilson in San Francisco, anyway.
Given the Bears’ recent struggles, their inclusion on Wilson’s short list is a bit surprising. Ditto for the Raiders, though they could parlay their current top two quarterbacks — Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota — into additional offensive support for Wilson. The Saints would be especially intriguing for Wilson, though Drew Brees has yet to make his retirement official. Meanwhile, Wilson-to-the-Cowboys would spin this year’s quarterback carousel out of orbit and send Dak Prescott elsewhere.
Wilson, 32, has been the face of the Seahawks for years. He’s also been sacked at an alarming rate. Recently, Wilson expressed frustration with the Seahawks’ inability to protect him. As a pro, Wilson has been sacked 394 times with 40+ sacks in each season since his rookie year.
The Seahawks furnished Wilson a brand new deal less than two years ago. Today, his average annual value of $35MM/year makes him the third-highest paid player in the NFL. So far, the Seahawks have rejected all trade inquiries on him, but that hasn’t stopped teams from trying.