Patriots: Latest Allen Robinson update is bad news for NE’s trade hopes
By Jerry Trotta
The Patriots-Allen Robinson trade rumors could soon die.
The New England Patriots are linked with seemingly every wide receiver who is either frustrated with his target share or is stuck between a rock and a hard place as it pertains to contract negotiations with his current franchise.
As exhausting as those rumors are — they literally never come to fruition — they do make sense as their receiving corps has a ton of question marks behind No. 1 option Julian Edelman, who’s been limited in practice with a knee injury and was officially given the questionable tag for Sunday night.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, one of the wideouts they were rumored to be interested in now seems to have buried the beef with his organization. Just a few days after Allen Robinson removed all references of the Chicago Bears from his social media accounts, NFL insider Ian Rapoport has reported that both sides have resumed contract talks.
There’s still a “significant gap” that needs to be closed, but, in a vacuum, this update is not good for the Patriots’ trade hopes.
After a tumultuous week that saw Allen Robinson delete references to his team on social media, the #Bears & the star WR resumed contract talks, sources say. There is still a significant gap to close to finish it before kickoff but the #ExtendAR movement of support gains momentum.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 19, 2020
The fact that Robinson and Chicago are still far apart in negotiations isn’t the worst news in the world, but the fact that he’s voluntarily resumed talks indicates that he wants to remain with the franchise. It was also reported that the former Pro Bowler never made a trade request, so it really seems like he’s keen on working out an extension with the Bears.
Whether that makes sense for him is an entirely different story as Chicago’s ceiling will always be limited as long as Mitchell Trubisky is under center. While Robinson has established a nice rapport with the Bears signal caller after a forgettable debut season with the team in 2018, it’s a little puzzling why he’s so incentivized to reach an agreement on a new deal all of a sudden, especially since the initial offers weren’t reflecting his overall market value.
Here’s a list of active WR that have a 1,400 yard, 14 TD season to their name:
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 15, 2020
Allen Robinson
You can stop scrolling, that's the whole list. pic.twitter.com/6Qp6hnIQZP
A move to an organization that boasts a winning culture on top of competent quarterback play would have been our preferred move for Robinson, who deserves to have his talent recognized on the big stage. New England obviously check those boxes, but a trade doesn’t currently appear to be in the realm of possibility for the Penn State product like it seemingly was earlier in the week.
