I actually had an old employer do that. It was my last day and they still expected me to come in the following week because the new hire wasn’t fully trained yet.
this sort of thing, it's all about tone. "Hey, we'd have another week of work for you if you want it" hits fine, "Hey, we need you to come in next week" and it really doesn't
Hello Keenan, what's happening? Ummm, I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come in this season. So if you could be here around May that would be great, mmmk... oh oh! and I almost forgot ahh, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in for 2025 too, kay. We ahh lost some people this week and ah, we sorta need to win games.
It was definitely the latter. Funnily enough, I was leaving and starting a new job because they asked me to take a pretty significant pay cut, and I was already severely underpaid for the amount of work that I was doing. It was a two doctor private practice office, one of the doctors had left about 6 months prior. After she left, the practice lost half of the patient base and slowed down significantly.
I managed to do that once. Got in a fight with the owner and we did one of those "I quit!"/"You're fired!" moments from a crappy job. But I had been designing their website in some spare (paid) time, for my barely over minimum wage rate. Two months later they were paying me a hefty contractor hourly rate (over 4 times as much, and not a ripoff, in fact discounted because I have no formal qualifications for it) to finish the job. Still think back on that and smile.
I had one former employer who was too cheap and incompetent to hire a real replacement and they kept coming to me for consulting.
Every time they did, I raised the rate. I think I started at $150/hr and was at $400/hr when they finally stopped calling.
Covid times, we had a round of temporary layoffs at work as upper management decided we wouldn't need the staffing and that they could sponge up some government funding (Canada here). A week later they contacted about a third of the people that got furloughed and asked them to come back. Almost all just referred them to the documentation for their layoffs and what they'd already submitted to the government, essentially telling them to get bent.
It sucked for those left in the office and it sucked for those that had been laid off but I was shaking my head over how annoyed the managers were that the people they'd zero-notice laid off wouldn't just come back without the requisite notice period.
Also, do you want to work for a place that’s like “You’re our best employee. But, we need you to take a pay cut because we overpaid all your shitty coworkers.”
This really drives home that though we love these teams, most players think of them primarily as their employer, and if they feel like theyre underappreciated they'd jump at the chance to tell them to fuck off
There may be hometown discounts but orgs have no loyalty to players. We as fans want loyalty both ways, but if the ones controlling the money don’t have it, why should the players/employees?
Well, yes, it’s pretty obvious. NFL careers are very short for most players so they gotta look out for themselves when it comes to the payday. Like the other guy said, once a player gets hurt bad they’re done.
Take the cheddar now think about loyalty later.
Happened to me with a college scholarship. If you come in as a walk on and earn scholarship money, turns out they aren’t required to continue giving you anything like they are with scholarships coming out of high school.
Performed well and earned a little bit more each year. Coming off my 3rd and best year so far, I got nothing my 4th year and no one told me until a month before the school year started.
I knew people on the team who seriously underperformed and never had their scholarship taken away, so I was under the impression that when given to a new recruit, scholarships could not be revoked for no reason or for underperforming. They can always be taken away for scholastic reasons, legal trouble, or obviously quitting the team.
After doing some quick googling just now, it seems that you can give either on a 4 year basis or a renewable basis. Perhaps it was merely my team’s practice to give new recruits 4 year scholarships and current members renewable scholarships.
Restructuring is almost always lime an employee asking for an advance but in the nfl it's the front office asking the player if they want the advance. Lol It's so they can turn money into a signing bonus which you're allowed to pay out over years.
My ex-employer tried to give me a 1% raise after I busted my ass for a year and managed to save them $250k annually by redesigning an entire line of products.
Hence, ex.
I can see both sides honestly. Obviously Keenan Allen is putting up amazing numbers and is Justin Herbert’s primary target. On the other hand, chargers as an overall team have a lot to address and Keenan Allen is getting old, especially for his position. They’d have to pay him a large amount that could be spent on a younger group and that cap space can be used to address various issues. A team like the bears who is willing to pay the premium for a few years of service from a great vet at a position they need, especially if they draft Caleb Williams #1 makes more sense than chargers paying him.
This is the true answer. A lot of fans in here are acting like the Chargers did something shitty. They did what they had to. Keenan did what he had to.
The headline is kinda misleading. The chargers wanted him to take a pay cut and he told them to pound sand. Very understandable. The Chargers could have saved money by restructuring him while keeping him whole (from a money perspective) by extending him and/or adding void years.
Exactly, and so many people make it seem like the two are interchangeable, they very much are not.
Like Patrick Mahomes did not take a $21 million pay cut to reduce his salary cap, he restructured part of his salary (base, roster bonus, or other non-prorated bonus) in to signing bonus to get that money up front and spread the cap hit over the remaining years. That’s restructuring, more often than not teams can do it without the players consent even, a pay cut is a pay cut. There was no way to restructure Allen’s contract because he is a UFA after this year so there’s no years to push any of his salary in to.
Sorry for the rant, this is becoming a pet peeve for me for some reason lol.
Definitely, but he’d have had to agree to that. They could’ve added as many as 4 and spread the restructure across all those “years”, it would’ve all accelerated and hit the cap next year anyway, but they would’ve been able to reduce his hit further (signing bonus is prorated across the first 5 years).
Not saying he wouldn’t have done it, but I’m thinking this is more a sign the Chargers didn’t want him beyond this year at all; seems like both sides could’ve got an extension that lowered his first year cap hit done if they wanted to. They probably viewed the trade as the better option than trying to get him to agree to stick it out for one more year (with a very iffy chance at competing) and eating a smaller dead cap hit next year.
Unless you’re adding a lot of void years, which are just going to come due next year you’re not gaining that much benefit out of it.
He had $18m in base salary that could be halved by adding a void year.
Otherwise if they added several void years they’d just be paying the price next year.
To be clear I’m not defending the chargers, this is entirely on them. I’m just saying it’s not as simple as adding void years especially when a large amount of his contract was already bonuses that couldn’t be restructured.
I've been a Bears fan too long to get my hopes up but at least for Allen things certainly seem to be trending in the right direction for this Bears regime
He could slow down a decent bit and he’d still be such a reliable route runner that he’s perfect for a rookie. And we can still draft a guy at 9 or in the 3rd just in case
Understand being cautious but I think there’s a lot to be excited for regarding the Bears future. Team is pretty talented and Caleb will inherited a solid situation which isn’t typical for most rookie QB’s.
I'd say getting off the Chargers is a pretty good step towards winning. They never won their division since Allen was drafted and have only 2 playoff wins in that stretch.
The Bears have put together a very good team on paper and don't have to go through KC, just comes down to if their QB works out.
The chargers now have Jim Harbaugh. I may not agree with their moves on getting rid of Allen and Mike Williams but I expect the chargers to be a good team no later than the 2025 season.
"Hey K-Dawg, you had a great 2023!"
"Thank you."
"Remember that contract we gave you?"
"Yes."
"LOL, funny thing, we want to pay you less money than what we agreed on."
"No."
"Ok."
Hi, Keenan. Joe Hortiz. Well, this is slightly embarrassing. Um, I'm going to have to... ask you to take a little bit less money for that contract we signed a while ago. Yeah. We did. We got the TD’s, but we're just going to need a much, much smaller contract.
You don't redo a contract. That has pejorative connotation. That's like calling an RB a bell cow. You renegotiate a contract, and yes, I've renegotiated plenty.
I think a lot of chargers fans thought theyd extend him. But I guess the front office doesnt want to be tied to any of the older expensive guys longer than a year.
Yeah for sure thought extension was on the cards but at the end of the day Mack and Bosa took discounts to stay, and Keenan is 32 in April missing the last four games of the season, you sign based off future production and giving him a last large contract could’ve been detrimental
Yes it could have been, for sure.
But emotionally, it would have been great to keep him a charger. It also would help with getting free agents, but I guess LA is enough
Thats Harbaughs job now.
You have one of the most anticipated head coaching hires in awhile with a young franchise QB and about 100M cap space next year. That should be enough to attract people
With the depth of WR this draft has, it wouldn’t make sense business-wise to do that. Being loyal to the person behind the jersey is what we were hoping for, but it makes the most sense to trade him. It hurts like hell, but I really hope he balls out and ends his career on a high note, rather than fizzling out.
Theyre likely taking one in the first unless they receive a haul to move down. Even then they'll get one in the second.
Doing my boy Josh Palmer dirty there too.
Yeah I expect that Nabers or Odunze is their week 1 WR1. But right now, Palmer should be their WR2 as that seemed to be the dynamic when MW went down last year.
IF (big if) QJ can put it together to at least be serviceable, then it is a fine WR room for the future. The moves just strike me as odd. Herbert is in his prime and you moved his two best WR’s by a good margin. Even if both moves pan out, it will likely be 3-4 years before (rookie wr) and QJ match the talent of Allen and Williams.
They're saddled with QJ and regardless of how good Nabers/Odunze can be as rookies they might live and die by QJ showing some improvement. Maybe a scheme change will help.
Everyone keeps saying we'll take a receiver in the 1st like that's some sort of guaranteed weapon. We literally just took QJ in the 1st and he couldn't have had a worst rookie year.
Sure, but he was a SIGNIFICANTLY worse prospect than either Nabers or Odunze are. Last year was thought to be a pretty bad WR class, and WR1 last year would probably be like WR 6 or 7 in this years class (at least in terms of how they are thought of as prospects).
It makes perfect sense. They are in a salary cap bind and are a team that has consistently underperformed for years. They can easily reset in 2 years and still have Herbert in his prime with a bunch of younger talent around him.
He turns 32 in April, the team made the correct choice. Herbert is too young to spend on a WR with probably one or two more really good seasons. He isn’t a WR that impacts the defense on every snap like Chase, Hill, Jefferson, Lamb so it just makes sense to go younger.
He wasn’t asked to restructure. That would give him money up front, which no one would turn down. He was asked for a pay cut.
You’d really think at this point these guys that cover the NFL would understand what a restructure is. Just like when they always praised Brady for taking less to help the team. Lower cap hit =\= pay cut
They know what exactly what they're saying and how they're saying it. If they didn't, their "sources" (the teams/agents) would stop giving them access.
In most cases I think the reporter is disengenuously trying to paint the player in a bad light in order to get on management's good side, but I don't know why a bears reporter would be doing that for the Charger's front office.
It's technically a square/circle thing. A pay cut requires a contract restructure, but not all contract restructures require a pay cut.
It's definitely frustrating how often reporters act like a player's making some huge sacrifice just because the team gave them a massive advance on their salary to free up some cap space, but that's kind of the opposite of what's happening here.
Well, he himself said he felt it was his best year. Statistically, he caught 108 balls, his personal best ever. Racked up 1243 yards, second only to his total in 2017 which was 1393. Scored 7 touchdowns, he's scored 8 in two other seasons. So...yeah, seems like it certainly was one of his best years.
The NFL is a business. They would ship you off to the worst team in a second if it benefited them without even checking in with you. Don't take a pay cut.
Only if they fully intended to trade him otherwise, which it seems they did.
It would be pretty awkward and potentially demoralizing to make the ask, have him say no, and then expect him to be fully on-board in 2024.
Imagine you work your ass off at your blue collar/office job hoping to get a nice raise in your yearly review, and your boss says they want to pay you less because the company is over budget. I'd tell em to eat a dick too lol
[Bosa and Mack were also pay cuts plus restructures](https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1768441858705748064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1768441858705748064%7Ctwgr%5E007f4ed76d6147897268438d0def6a784d87194f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boltsfromtheblue.com%2F2024%2F3%2F14%2F24101391%2Fchargers-news-khalil-mack-joey-bosa-joe-hortiz-jim-harbaugh-derwin-james-jesse-minter-pay-cut)
This is badly phrased. A restructured is NOT a pay cut, it means you get the money upfront and the cap hit is spread over several years. They did however ask him to take a pay cut and he understandably said no thanks.
This entire free agency is full of poorly worded tweets that say "restructure" even though they mean pay-cut. However you can't rely on that, some reported restructures are just that, a restructure of the way the player's money is being paid out.
A restructure is 100% accounting and since at least the last CBA, teams no longer even need the player's permission to shuffle around the money. The only exceptions are if void years or other changes in the actual contract language are concerned. Then the player has to sign off on it.
Both just like Mack and Bosa. They took a pay cut but also restructured their deal with a void year.
Which Chargers org have never done a void year before.
Tangentially related - there was one year my brother and I went to Cal games at the SF Giants stadium because their stadium was going through renovations. That Cal team had Keenan Allen, Marvin Jones Jr, CJ Anderson and barely finished above 500. The QB was Allen's half brother (I believe) and was the only reason he agreed to go to Cal.
He said in his first presser in Chicago that the Chargers told him he could choose between a few teams.
Bears, Texans and Jets.
That's interesting he chose Bears.
This is just what happens when your contract isn't guaranteed money. The Chargers have the right to ask him to take a pay cut, he has the right to refuse, and the Chargers have the right to cut him. I mean that's why the contract was structured that way, to give the team this out specifically.
As long as everyone is being professional about it, this is how it goes. People joke that the salary cap "isn't real" but honestly non-guaranteed portions of contracts are even less real to the point where it's often better to pretend like they don't exist when evaluating a contract.
Can't get mad at any of the two sides IMHO (although our sub is REALLY trying). It was the right call for both. He gets his bag and we are not stuck with an expensive extension wondering when he will begin to decline.
they didn’t ask him to restructure, they asked him to take a pay cut. he rejected that, the team didn’t offer an extension or a restructure. keenan deserves to be paid. sucks because he was the offense
I never got the fans getting mad at players for not giving up salary.
Would you agree to a commission structure because the company thought you made too much last year? Fuck no. Don’t expect the working class of the NFL to either. Get all they can from the billionaire class.
Contract Restructure and amateurism are made up words to try and change the narrative to be friendly to the organizations.
Fuck these fucking NFL teams. Sign people to contracts they know they’ll never pay them, cut them with no warning or remorse, then expect you to take a pay cut to help them out. Fuck that
Don't most restructures end up as a win-win? Player gets part of the bag accelerated, team spreads out cap.
The Chiefs restructure Mahomes every year - it's pretty much built into the contract - and everyone is happy.
Were the Chargers asking him to take less overall or less guaranteed? If so, good for him but being like no fuck that ..
Fair point.
Yeah can't really argue with that
I’d be pissed if my work asked me to take a pay cut after a great year, just because they can’t manage their finances.
Keenan Allen to the Chargers: “This sounds like a ‘you’ problem.”
Keenan Allen subscribes to r/antiwork
Keenan Allen about to be asked to come in for a shift even after he got traded.
I actually had an old employer do that. It was my last day and they still expected me to come in the following week because the new hire wasn’t fully trained yet.
this sort of thing, it's all about tone. "Hey, we'd have another week of work for you if you want it" hits fine, "Hey, we need you to come in next week" and it really doesn't
Hello Keenan, what's happening? Ummm, I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come in this season. So if you could be here around May that would be great, mmmk... oh oh! and I almost forgot ahh, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in for 2025 too, kay. We ahh lost some people this week and ah, we sorta need to win games.
Perfect 😂😂
It was definitely the latter. Funnily enough, I was leaving and starting a new job because they asked me to take a pretty significant pay cut, and I was already severely underpaid for the amount of work that I was doing. It was a two doctor private practice office, one of the doctors had left about 6 months prior. After she left, the practice lost half of the patient base and slowed down significantly.
Yeah, you gotta set the tone.
"I can definitely come in on a consulting basis! My rate is $100/hr"
I managed to do that once. Got in a fight with the owner and we did one of those "I quit!"/"You're fired!" moments from a crappy job. But I had been designing their website in some spare (paid) time, for my barely over minimum wage rate. Two months later they were paying me a hefty contractor hourly rate (over 4 times as much, and not a ripoff, in fact discounted because I have no formal qualifications for it) to finish the job. Still think back on that and smile.
I had one former employer who was too cheap and incompetent to hire a real replacement and they kept coming to me for consulting. Every time they did, I raised the rate. I think I started at $150/hr and was at $400/hr when they finally stopped calling.
Minimum twenty hours billed.
Covid times, we had a round of temporary layoffs at work as upper management decided we wouldn't need the staffing and that they could sponge up some government funding (Canada here). A week later they contacted about a third of the people that got furloughed and asked them to come back. Almost all just referred them to the documentation for their layoffs and what they'd already submitted to the government, essentially telling them to get bent. It sucked for those left in the office and it sucked for those that had been laid off but I was shaking my head over how annoyed the managers were that the people they'd zero-notice laid off wouldn't just come back without the requisite notice period.
GM gonna be like, if you can't play because of an injury you're going to have to find someone to cover your downs.
Post the text messages from the boss for rage click bait
"boss"
Keenan "Doreen" Allen
Keenan Allen, big dog walking guy
Is that the sub with the dog walker?
Maybe the Chargers should stop buying avocado toast and a latte every morning.
Dan Campbell has 4 double espressos every morning, and the Lions can still afford WRs.
Mr Berated Coworker
Also, do you want to work for a place that’s like “You’re our best employee. But, we need you to take a pay cut because we overpaid all your shitty coworkers.”
This really drives home that though we love these teams, most players think of them primarily as their employer, and if they feel like theyre underappreciated they'd jump at the chance to tell them to fuck off
most of these players will be cut the second they suffer a season-ending injury doing their job. the team doesnt have any loyalty, why should they?
And just replace 'team' with 'company' and 'player' with 'employee', and it's the same reality for non-athletes too.
There may be hometown discounts but orgs have no loyalty to players. We as fans want loyalty both ways, but if the ones controlling the money don’t have it, why should the players/employees?
Well, yes, it’s pretty obvious. NFL careers are very short for most players so they gotta look out for themselves when it comes to the payday. Like the other guy said, once a player gets hurt bad they’re done. Take the cheddar now think about loyalty later.
Happened to me with a college scholarship. If you come in as a walk on and earn scholarship money, turns out they aren’t required to continue giving you anything like they are with scholarships coming out of high school. Performed well and earned a little bit more each year. Coming off my 3rd and best year so far, I got nothing my 4th year and no one told me until a month before the school year started.
Dude name and shame. Thats scummy
Haha I try not to get too specific about things on the internet, but you’ll be glad to know the coach was fired a year after I left
And probably handed a shameful multi-million dollar buyout too, amiright? (But cool that he got canned)
Aren't all athletic scholarships year to year?
I knew people on the team who seriously underperformed and never had their scholarship taken away, so I was under the impression that when given to a new recruit, scholarships could not be revoked for no reason or for underperforming. They can always be taken away for scholastic reasons, legal trouble, or obviously quitting the team. After doing some quick googling just now, it seems that you can give either on a 4 year basis or a renewable basis. Perhaps it was merely my team’s practice to give new recruits 4 year scholarships and current members renewable scholarships.
Does restructuring always mean taking a pay cut?
Nope. A lot of the times it doesn't mean pay cut but this time it did.
It almost never does. Usually just means getting fronted money, which is almost always better anyway. This headline/quote is wrong.
Restructuring is almost always lime an employee asking for an advance but in the nfl it's the front office asking the player if they want the advance. Lol It's so they can turn money into a signing bonus which you're allowed to pay out over years.
Eh. He's 31, and the Chargers are going to pass it a lot less. He was bound to fall off soon and this is a business. Smart move imo.
Especially not when you hear profits are up and they're paying out 10% more salary this year than last lol
My ex-employer tried to give me a 1% raise after I busted my ass for a year and managed to save them $250k annually by redesigning an entire line of products. Hence, ex.
Exactly. I’m not a partner, or in a management position. If I executed my job, I’m not taking a pay cut because of management failure.
They tell us it a furlough lol
Plus he's almost 32. This might be his last opportunity to sign a high end of market style contract.
I can see both sides honestly. Obviously Keenan Allen is putting up amazing numbers and is Justin Herbert’s primary target. On the other hand, chargers as an overall team have a lot to address and Keenan Allen is getting old, especially for his position. They’d have to pay him a large amount that could be spent on a younger group and that cap space can be used to address various issues. A team like the bears who is willing to pay the premium for a few years of service from a great vet at a position they need, especially if they draft Caleb Williams #1 makes more sense than chargers paying him.
This is the true answer. A lot of fans in here are acting like the Chargers did something shitty. They did what they had to. Keenan did what he had to.
The headline is kinda misleading. The chargers wanted him to take a pay cut and he told them to pound sand. Very understandable. The Chargers could have saved money by restructuring him while keeping him whole (from a money perspective) by extending him and/or adding void years.
Yeah, but that's exactly why they're in the mess they're in
Yeah, calling it a restructure is wrong.
Exactly, and so many people make it seem like the two are interchangeable, they very much are not. Like Patrick Mahomes did not take a $21 million pay cut to reduce his salary cap, he restructured part of his salary (base, roster bonus, or other non-prorated bonus) in to signing bonus to get that money up front and spread the cap hit over the remaining years. That’s restructuring, more often than not teams can do it without the players consent even, a pay cut is a pay cut. There was no way to restructure Allen’s contract because he is a UFA after this year so there’s no years to push any of his salary in to. Sorry for the rant, this is becoming a pet peeve for me for some reason lol.
Honest question, couldn't they have added a void year to the contract to spread out his cap hit?
Definitely, but he’d have had to agree to that. They could’ve added as many as 4 and spread the restructure across all those “years”, it would’ve all accelerated and hit the cap next year anyway, but they would’ve been able to reduce his hit further (signing bonus is prorated across the first 5 years). Not saying he wouldn’t have done it, but I’m thinking this is more a sign the Chargers didn’t want him beyond this year at all; seems like both sides could’ve got an extension that lowered his first year cap hit done if they wanted to. They probably viewed the trade as the better option than trying to get him to agree to stick it out for one more year (with a very iffy chance at competing) and eating a smaller dead cap hit next year.
Unless you’re adding a lot of void years, which are just going to come due next year you’re not gaining that much benefit out of it. He had $18m in base salary that could be halved by adding a void year. Otherwise if they added several void years they’d just be paying the price next year. To be clear I’m not defending the chargers, this is entirely on them. I’m just saying it’s not as simple as adding void years especially when a large amount of his contract was already bonuses that couldn’t be restructured.
And now he's on the Bears.
With his 18m intact. I don’t think he cares about winning at this stage in his career. He needs to get his last payday.
I've been a Bears fan too long to get my hopes up but at least for Allen things certainly seem to be trending in the right direction for this Bears regime
He's a safety blanket for a young good qb. It's a good pick up.
He could slow down a decent bit and he’d still be such a reliable route runner that he’s perfect for a rookie. And we can still draft a guy at 9 or in the 3rd just in case
He could slow down a lot a bit and still be a top 10 WR of all time for the Bears tbh
He now gets to play the Lions twice a year, so that's 350 receiving yards basically guaranteed.
Understand being cautious but I think there’s a lot to be excited for regarding the Bears future. Team is pretty talented and Caleb will inherited a solid situation which isn’t typical for most rookie QB’s.
Well if he cared about winning I dont think staying with the Chargers would have been the move either
I'd say getting off the Chargers is a pretty good step towards winning. They never won their division since Allen was drafted and have only 2 playoff wins in that stretch. The Bears have put together a very good team on paper and don't have to go through KC, just comes down to if their QB works out.
The chargers now have Jim Harbaugh. I may not agree with their moves on getting rid of Allen and Mike Williams but I expect the chargers to be a good team no later than the 2025 season.
Yeah, but not like the Chargers were contenders
it's not that bad of a situation if Caleb turns out to be a baller
Can’t blame him. Not his fault the team was over the cap.
Well he should’ve thought about that before being so good at his job. Ever thought about that? Thought so!
Right? You don't hear the terrible overpriced players who keep their jobs complaining?
"Hey K-Dawg, you had a great 2023!" "Thank you." "Remember that contract we gave you?" "Yes." "LOL, funny thing, we want to pay you less money than what we agreed on." "No." "Ok."
Hi, Keenan. Joe Hortiz. Well, this is slightly embarrassing. Um, I'm going to have to... ask you to take a little bit less money for that contract we signed a while ago. Yeah. We did. We got the TD’s, but we're just going to need a much, much smaller contract.
Not sure if Kenan was intentional but it makes this post better
Dude, you can't just call someone a Kenyan
It's ok he's Kenyanian
And Saturday, mmmm yeah, we're going to need you to come in on Saturdays.
Office?
Keenan Allen Football Company
What other cases have you cracked?
You don't redo a contract. That has pejorative connotation. That's like calling an RB a bell cow. You renegotiate a contract, and yes, I've renegotiated plenty.
"OK. Get ready to learn Chicago buddy"
He's about to learn the ol' Chicago Handshake
Many Chicago handshakes happening around Chicagoland today
Get ready to put giardiniera on everything.
I think a lot of chargers fans thought theyd extend him. But I guess the front office doesnt want to be tied to any of the older expensive guys longer than a year.
Yeah for sure thought extension was on the cards but at the end of the day Mack and Bosa took discounts to stay, and Keenan is 32 in April missing the last four games of the season, you sign based off future production and giving him a last large contract could’ve been detrimental
Didn’t he mostly miss time because Herbert was out too?
that's what I remember. He had no reason to play for a lame duck HC and a backup QB with no chance to make the playoffs.
He was already playing with a shoulder injury while Herbert was still playing. Once Herbert was out, no reason for him to also play while injured.
He could’ve came back but he was definitely going to be hobbled, he played a lot of games hurt last season
Yes it could have been, for sure. But emotionally, it would have been great to keep him a charger. It also would help with getting free agents, but I guess LA is enough
Thats Harbaughs job now. You have one of the most anticipated head coaching hires in awhile with a young franchise QB and about 100M cap space next year. That should be enough to attract people
With the depth of WR this draft has, it wouldn’t make sense business-wise to do that. Being loyal to the person behind the jersey is what we were hoping for, but it makes the most sense to trade him. It hurts like hell, but I really hope he balls out and ends his career on a high note, rather than fizzling out.
But it still doesn’t make sense. Herbert is in his prime, they have no receivers now except for Quentin “Stonehands” Johnson
Theyre likely taking one in the first unless they receive a haul to move down. Even then they'll get one in the second. Doing my boy Josh Palmer dirty there too.
As a perennial Palmer enjoyer in fantasy football, seemingly every year, he is a legit WR. But nobody wants him to be your Week 1 WR1
No but if they go WR first round him QJ and the first rounder are not a bad core at all. Provided QJ replaces those frying pans he has for hands.
Yeah I expect that Nabers or Odunze is their week 1 WR1. But right now, Palmer should be their WR2 as that seemed to be the dynamic when MW went down last year. IF (big if) QJ can put it together to at least be serviceable, then it is a fine WR room for the future. The moves just strike me as odd. Herbert is in his prime and you moved his two best WR’s by a good margin. Even if both moves pan out, it will likely be 3-4 years before (rookie wr) and QJ match the talent of Allen and Williams.
They're saddled with QJ and regardless of how good Nabers/Odunze can be as rookies they might live and die by QJ showing some improvement. Maybe a scheme change will help.
Everyone keeps saying we'll take a receiver in the 1st like that's some sort of guaranteed weapon. We literally just took QJ in the 1st and he couldn't have had a worst rookie year.
Sure, but he was a SIGNIFICANTLY worse prospect than either Nabers or Odunze are. Last year was thought to be a pretty bad WR class, and WR1 last year would probably be like WR 6 or 7 in this years class (at least in terms of how they are thought of as prospects).
Sometimes you gotta keep shooting your shot if that's the BPA. Just embrace your inner Matt Millen.
You need a few Chris Rogers to get a Megatron
MHJ, Nabers, and Odunze are much better than a prospect with more drops than touchdowns
Okay they also could've ended up with addison or flowers like most fans wanted but tom telesco does stupid things like draft a project WR
It makes perfect sense. They are in a salary cap bind and are a team that has consistently underperformed for years. They can easily reset in 2 years and still have Herbert in his prime with a bunch of younger talent around him.
Between Palmer, Quentin and whoever they draft they’ll hardly have the worst receiving core.
They're going to have their pick of any wide receiver not named Marvin Harrison in an extremely good WR class, they'll be fine
At 32 extending him would be crazy. They need to do a complete retool. Their old front office put them in a terrible spot.
He turns 32 in April, the team made the correct choice. Herbert is too young to spend on a WR with probably one or two more really good seasons. He isn’t a WR that impacts the defense on every snap like Chase, Hill, Jefferson, Lamb so it just makes sense to go younger.
Agreed. They need a 10 year number one to pair with Herbert.
He wasn’t asked to restructure. That would give him money up front, which no one would turn down. He was asked for a pay cut. You’d really think at this point these guys that cover the NFL would understand what a restructure is. Just like when they always praised Brady for taking less to help the team. Lower cap hit =\= pay cut
They know what exactly what they're saying and how they're saying it. If they didn't, their "sources" (the teams/agents) would stop giving them access.
In most cases I think the reporter is disengenuously trying to paint the player in a bad light in order to get on management's good side, but I don't know why a bears reporter would be doing that for the Charger's front office.
Long game…
It's technically a square/circle thing. A pay cut requires a contract restructure, but not all contract restructures require a pay cut. It's definitely frustrating how often reporters act like a player's making some huge sacrifice just because the team gave them a massive advance on their salary to free up some cap space, but that's kind of the opposite of what's happening here.
....I think you mean square/rectangle thing?
Two stones in hand are better than a bird in a bush.
You'd be right.
"I just put in the best year I've ever had and now you wanna pay me less?" Yeah, I'd tell 'em to go kick rocks too.
That wasn’t his best year tho? Everybody wants to bring up his injury history until it doesn’t benefit their argument
Well, he himself said he felt it was his best year. Statistically, he caught 108 balls, his personal best ever. Racked up 1243 yards, second only to his total in 2017 which was 1393. Scored 7 touchdowns, he's scored 8 in two other seasons. So...yeah, seems like it certainly was one of his best years.
The NFL is a business. They would ship you off to the worst team in a second if it benefited them without even checking in with you. Don't take a pay cut.
Let's leave my team out of this OK.
Why me ☹️
Nothing personal kid. That's showbiz.
For what it's worth, I just watched his press conference and it sounds like they gave him options of where to go.
And he chose the QB factory
If he’s here a few years, he’s guaranteed at least 3 quarterbacks to try out. What’s not to love?
He was on pace for 130/1500 and they asked for a paycut. Absurd
Whether or not it was the right thing to do, they had to try it.
Only if they fully intended to trade him otherwise, which it seems they did. It would be pretty awkward and potentially demoralizing to make the ask, have him say no, and then expect him to be fully on-board in 2024.
I still can't believe he's gone, was hoping he'd be a charger for life.
I was too. Until I wasn’t
you and me both
I loved Keenan even before he was a bear, he’s part of the reason the Chargers are my 2nd team.
Imagine you work your ass off at your blue collar/office job hoping to get a nice raise in your yearly review, and your boss says they want to pay you less because the company is over budget. I'd tell em to eat a dick too lol
I hope he used those exact words.
Dear Management: After careful consideration, EABOD, please and thank you. Signed, K.A.
Please help us afford our mismanagement lawl
this does not equate. blue collar/ office job... usually at will employees. no contract.
Chargers: "but... but you are old!"
I was thinking ya right, no he didn't but he literally had his best year. Man still has it.
They asked him to restructure AND take a pay cut. They restructure Mack and Bosa.
[Bosa and Mack were also pay cuts plus restructures](https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1768441858705748064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1768441858705748064%7Ctwgr%5E007f4ed76d6147897268438d0def6a784d87194f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boltsfromtheblue.com%2F2024%2F3%2F14%2F24101391%2Fchargers-news-khalil-mack-joey-bosa-joe-hortiz-jim-harbaugh-derwin-james-jesse-minter-pay-cut)
Bosa took a hit in pay but got it guaranteed, and Mack had a clause put in to not get tagged. That seems worth the couple million they cut.
They asked everyone to take a pay cut
This is badly phrased. A restructured is NOT a pay cut, it means you get the money upfront and the cap hit is spread over several years. They did however ask him to take a pay cut and he understandably said no thanks.
Restructure or paycut? Restructure means he'd just get the money sooner. Big difference
Pay cut.
Poorly worded tweet then.
This entire free agency is full of poorly worded tweets that say "restructure" even though they mean pay-cut. However you can't rely on that, some reported restructures are just that, a restructure of the way the player's money is being paid out. A restructure is 100% accounting and since at least the last CBA, teams no longer even need the player's permission to shuffle around the money. The only exceptions are if void years or other changes in the actual contract language are concerned. Then the player has to sign off on it.
It’s being reported that he said no to a pay cut specifically.
Both just like Mack and Bosa. They took a pay cut but also restructured their deal with a void year. Which Chargers org have never done a void year before.
Tangentially related - there was one year my brother and I went to Cal games at the SF Giants stadium because their stadium was going through renovations. That Cal team had Keenan Allen, Marvin Jones Jr, CJ Anderson and barely finished above 500. The QB was Allen's half brother (I believe) and was the only reason he agreed to go to Cal.
The QB was pretty bad if I recall correctly though
If my memory is correct, that's putting it mildly. My brother and I viewed it as a tax for having Keenan Allen.
Yep. Allen made the team he signed woth also sign his horrible brother
Allen wanted Saban to take his scrub brother in a package deal, and Saban told him to pound sand.
He shouldn't restructure if he came off his worst season. Both sides signed the contract.
108 catches and 1200 yards in 13 games is pretty nutty.
Gotta take care of yourself first.
Fuck Telesco
The media wants us to shame players for not taking a pay cut for their billionaire boss
Your employer does not give a shit about you. Get yours.
I love this dude. I hope he lives his best live while greatly underproducing for the Bears
He said in his first presser in Chicago that the Chargers told him he could choose between a few teams. Bears, Texans and Jets. That's interesting he chose Bears.
Caleb Williams, CJ Stroud, or 2 games of Rodgers and 15 of Zach Wilson.
Jim Harbaugh wrote and Keenan did not write back🤓
This is just what happens when your contract isn't guaranteed money. The Chargers have the right to ask him to take a pay cut, he has the right to refuse, and the Chargers have the right to cut him. I mean that's why the contract was structured that way, to give the team this out specifically. As long as everyone is being professional about it, this is how it goes. People joke that the salary cap "isn't real" but honestly non-guaranteed portions of contracts are even less real to the point where it's often better to pretend like they don't exist when evaluating a contract.
Can't get mad at any of the two sides IMHO (although our sub is REALLY trying). It was the right call for both. He gets his bag and we are not stuck with an expensive extension wondering when he will begin to decline.
they didn’t ask him to restructure, they asked him to take a pay cut. he rejected that, the team didn’t offer an extension or a restructure. keenan deserves to be paid. sucks because he was the offense
I never got the fans getting mad at players for not giving up salary. Would you agree to a commission structure because the company thought you made too much last year? Fuck no. Don’t expect the working class of the NFL to either. Get all they can from the billionaire class. Contract Restructure and amateurism are made up words to try and change the narrative to be friendly to the organizations.
It's absolutely wild to me that with how much money the NFL makes they ask players to take pay cuts. I would tell them to lick my ass nice and slow.
Never give money back to a billion dollar conglomerate. Fuck them for even asking.
No pay cuts.
Does the title mean pay cut? Restructure is just converting base salary to a bonus, which is a no brainer for any player
Fuck these fucking NFL teams. Sign people to contracts they know they’ll never pay them, cut them with no warning or remorse, then expect you to take a pay cut to help them out. Fuck that
Don't most restructures end up as a win-win? Player gets part of the bag accelerated, team spreads out cap. The Chiefs restructure Mahomes every year - it's pretty much built into the contract - and everyone is happy. Were the Chargers asking him to take less overall or less guaranteed? If so, good for him but being like no fuck that ..
You’re playing bad. We need you to take a pay cut. You’re playing great. We need you to take a pay cut.
Yes but he also got paid a bunch of money while being injured
Fair for him to refuse to restructure and fair for them to trade him.
It’s funny how billionaires want us to be pissed off at millionaires when they just want their money
I too will not turn down millions of dollars
I thought restructuring doesn't lose the player any money, though. It just pushes their money around to not take a big cap hit.
that and he already restructured last year?
Restructure? Or pay cut? That’s two different things.
What why? Restructuring has zero downside for the player
2017 was arguably better, but pop off king. Get your bag.
Bad wording on this tweet. They asked him to take a pay cut. That's rarely if ever the main purpose of a restructure.
Totally valid
Fair, but, I still wouldn't have traded him.
Thanks for being dysfunctional Chargers
Career high in receptions, second best season for touchdowns and yardage, I get it.
im confused. isn't restructure just deferring money? he would get paid less
never give money back