Business is about to pick up in the wide receiver free agent market.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports that the Jacksonville Jaguars have told Allen Robinson they will not deploy the franchise or transition tag to keep the talented wideout. If the two sides can’t reach a deal by March 12, Robinson will officially reach free agency and shoot to the top of the free agent power rankings at wide receiver.
This doesn’t mean the Jaguars won’t try to bring him back, but it’s apparent the team isn’t necessarily comfortable diving into the deep end of the spending pool for a player coming off a pretty serious injury. If you’ll recall, Robinson appeared in just one game in 2017 after suffering an ACL injury on his third offensive snap of the season.
The Chicago Bears have been connected to Robinson for a while now and could have an intriguing pitch up their sleeve, considering that Charles London (the team’s new running backs coach) was on the coaching staff that recruited him to Penn State. Beyond that, we won’t beat the dead horse of how much the Bears need wide receiver help. Instead, we’ll note that Robinson won’t turn 25 until August and that he could still be working toward hitting his prime. He’s a perfect fit for GM Ryan Pace’s team that is entering an offseason in which it is expected to be in extreme talent-acquisition mode.
So while Robinson’s 2017 season was limited to just three offensive snaps, he reached the Pro Bowl in 2015 catching passes from Blake Bortles and two years prior to that was making Christian Hackenberg look like a top-tier quarterback prospect while hauling in passes for the Nittany Lions. Soon, Bears fans can start dreaming of what he can do with a developing Mitch Trubisky.