Bears: Allen Robinson will finish as best receiver in team history

Allen Robinson has made it known that he would like to receive an extension from the Chicago Bears and would like to finish out his career as the best wide receiver in Bears history. Here is what he needs to do to make that happen.

The Chicago Bears were able to bring in one of the top free-agent wide receivers in Allen Robinson last season. Robinson was coming off an ACL tear that he sustained while playing for the Jaguars in 2017. After just an okay season in 2018, Robinson is currently on pace to have the second-best season of his career.

Robinson signed a three-year, $42 million dollar contract and has lived up to that salary. With only one year left on his deal, will Ryan Pace look to extend Robinson? The answer better be yes. With the NFL salary cap increasing again in 2020, Pace should see about extending Robinson and spreading out some of his cap hit over a longer period of time.

If Robinson is re-signed for another three to four years, that would make him 30 to 31 years old and give him plenty of time to leave his mark on this Bears franchise. Robinson recently made it known he would like to re-sign with Chicago and finish his career as the best all-time wide receiver in Bears franchise history.

Currently, Robinson is 42nd in all-time receiving yards and 38th overall in receiving touchdowns. That sounds like a steep climb for Robinson to make. Can he realistically make it with only one additional contract in Chicago? Will he need to be around longer to reach this goal?

Let us take a look at the touchdown record first. Robinson is 38th on the all-time list with 11 touchdowns as a Chicago Bear. Robinson is on pace for one more touchdown over the next three weeks, but touchdowns can be very fluky. In fact, Robinson has scored four of his seven touchdowns over the last three games. He only scored four touchdowns the entire 2018 season.

If Robinson gets to number eight or more this year, that would at least tie him with the likes of Earl Bennett, Johnny Knox and Muhsin Muhammad. In order for Robinson to reach the top, he will need to score 38 more touchdowns. That sounds nearly impossible but is actually achievable. If Robinson plays for the Bears in all 16 games each season from now until the end of his imaginary extension, he would need to score 10 touchdowns on average over the next four years.

As much as I love Robinson, I am not sure he can find the end zone seven times per season over the next four years unless the offense continues to play like they have the last three of their four games.

What about yardage? Right now, Robinson is 42nd in team history and has 1,652 yards receiving. The top modern wide receiver in receiving yards in Bears history is none other than Alshon Jeffery. However, Johnny Morris holds the Bears all-time receiving yards record with 5,059 total yards. If Robinson signs on for another four years, this will again be achievable.

In a down year statistically in 2018, Robinson finished with 754 yards receiving. This season he already has 898 yards. He is 10th in the NFL in receptions right now with 76 and his yardage has him at 20th. Kenny Golladay leads the league with 10 touchdowns and Robinson is tied with the likes of Michael Thomas and DeAndre Hopkins. Robinson his having a stellar 2019 season.

Robinson is on pace for 1,100 yards this season. That alone would move him up one spot on the all-time receiving yards list and close to leapfrogging into the 39th spot. Let us assume he hits that 1,100-yard mark this season and we average out his two years in Chicago, Robinson would have an average of 927 yards per season.

If he was able to sign an extension and continue at the level he is playing at now, Robinson would add an additional 3,708 yards to his Bears resume. Adding in his 2018 (754) and 2019 (1,100 projected) seasons, Robinson would break the all-time receiving record with 5,562 yards.

Even if he cannot top the all-time receiving touchdown record, being close and breaking the receiving yards record would almost guarantee he’d be the best wide receiver in Bears history. In a pass-happy league, as long as Ryan Pace can keep him on for a reasonable amount of money, Robinson should have no problem planting his flag as the best wide receiver in Bears’ history.