It’s not hard to see the relationship between Allen Robinson and the Chicago Bears has gotten a bit icy in recent weeks. After talking for a long time about a possible contract extension, word is the team broke off discussions around the third week of the season. Something that led to the wide receiver scrubbing all Bears-related mentions from his social media.
Since then he’s pretty much toed the company line, refusing to discuss anything related to his contract. It appeared things died down. Turns out that might not be the case. One person who seems to have grown incensed with the Bears is Robinson’s agent Brandon Parker. While normally a guy who prefers to remain optimistic on matters, something seemed to snap during the first half of Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
It came during their second offensive drive.
After a nice march deep into the red zone, the team stalled and were forced to settle for a field goal. That was bad enough. What seemed to break Parker was the fact the Bears didn’t throw Robinson, their best offensive player, the ball one time in that sequence. So he fired off a pair of tweets venting that frustrating.
He even alluded to the possibility it was done on purpose. As if the Bears are intentionally keeping Robinson out of the end zone. It makes you wonder just how bad the communication has become between the two sides.
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Throw 12 the Damn Ball in the Redzone! JUST ONCE! My goodness..
— Brandon Parker (@B_Parker21) November 17, 2020
Should he not be the first read in the redzone 99% of the time? Only team in the league that won’t throw it to the WR1 in the redzone. Same guy who’s leading the league in contested catches.. What’s really going on?
— Brandon Parker (@B_Parker21) November 17, 2020
Allen Robinson may have a legitimate gripe too.
Are the Bears sabotaging him? His red zone targets have been down all season. Yet after being targeted 57 times in the first five games, he’s only been thrown to 29 times in the past four. That is a curious shift in direction. It would be one thing if it happened in just one game but this is a trend. One that Parker seems to have taken notice of. Conspiracies are always dangerous in sports but it’s still curious.
If the team was actually doing such a thing, then why? The only explanation would be their intent to kill his value going into free agency next year. With no extension in sight, the odds of Robinson hitting the market grows each week. If he keeps producing at a high level, some team is going to pay him what he wants. Maybe the Bears are hoping to lower the value to where he might feel pressured to accept a cheaper deal.
It sounds ridiculous and probably is.
Either way, Parker has every right to be upset. If for no other reason then the Bears are being stupid. They struggle enough to score points as it is. Why aren’t they giving their best player more opportunities to, you know, make plays? Allen Robinson is a baller. They pay him for times like that. There just isn’t much logic to how that entire offensive operation is being run. It’s little wonder why speculation continues to grow the receiver isn’t even interested in coming back anymore. Hard to blame him.
