Keenan Allen had essentially been silent about his trade from the Los Angeles Chargers to the Chicago Bears for two months. But the 32-year-old wide receiver posted to his Instagram a heartfelt message to the fans of the team that drafted him in the third round in 2013.
Allen captioned the gratitude letter apologizing for the two-month wait.
Allen was traded to the Bears on March 14th in an effort by the Chargers to clear salary cap space. His cap hit is $23 million. The Chargers attempted to restructure his contract but Allen refused to engage in negotiations.
“There really was no emotion, it was, I’m not doing it,” he said of the team’s request to restructure. “I’m not doing it. Came off my best season, so it’s not happening.”
Keenan Allen Thanks Chargers Fans
Keenan Allen took the league by storm in 2013 as a rookie, leading all rookies with 1046 receiving yards. Outperforming even the first-round rookies drafted that year.
Allen is the second-leading receiver in Chargers history with 10,530 yards, trailing just Antonio Gates by 1300 yards despite having played in almost 100 fewer games than Gates. Allen missed 39 games due to injury over his 11 seasons with the team including four last year.
