Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson accepted his franchise tag Thursday to finalize his one-year, $18 million contract, a source said. Robinson and the Bears can still work out a long-term extension over the next few months, or the team can trade him.
That move came as the team reportedly visited with former Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay, the top free-agent wide receiver. Given the Bears’ extremely tight salary-cap situation, it seems unlikely they’d be able to have Robinson and Golladay.
Robinson, 27, has been seeking an extension starting at $20 million or more per season, but he and the Bears have been unable to agree on a deal over the past year-plus despite him being their best offensive player. He has repeatedly said he wants to stay with the Bears, but when extension talks stalled, he wanted to hit the open market for a big payday.
Since joining the Bears in 2018, Robinson has 255 catches, 3,151 yards and 17 touchdowns in 45 games despite playing with Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles as his primary quarterbacks.
