Who Wins and Loses from the Keenan Allen Trade?
The Los Angeles Chargers wide receivers are decimated. The Chicago Bears have a good receiving corps for their next quarterback.
This analysis of Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Justin Herbert, and other players in the Keenan Allen to Chicago trade is an excerpt of my Kindle publication: 2024 NFL Fantasy Football Free Agency Review: Third Edition.
Now, in the 3rd Edition, I have included WR moves and their fantasy football impact. It will be updated periodically.
The full analysis of the Keenan Allen trade is available to premium subscribers. All others can read it and other analysis in 2024 NFL Fantasy Football Free Agency Review: Third Edition.
Why the Chargers Needed to Make This Move
The Los Angeles Chargers decimated their wide receiver room by cutting Mike Williams and then trading Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick. Both wide receivers were getting older; Williams is going to be 30 years old this season, and Allen will be 32.
Both were still relatively productive--albeit injury-prone. Allen just had the best season of his career last year--setting career-highs in receptions (108), yards (1,243), and yards per game (95.6).
Williams only played in three games last season, but he caught 19 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown. In 17 games, that pace would translate to 107 catches for 1,411 yards and 6 touchdowns. Williams has only played a full season in two of his seven seasons.
The moves were necessary because the Chargers were spending way too much money. Before they parted ways with their two receivers, they were $25 million over the salary cap. Edge rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, who were also among the team's highest-paid players, took cuts to help the team's financials.
The loss of Allen and Williams immediately causes the Chargers to have one of the worst receiving rooms in the NFL. Allen and Williams were their best wide receivers, and it wasn't close. Allen had 150 targets thrown his way in 2023. The team's next most valuable receiver, Joshua Palmer, only had 61 targets. Palmer is a fine-depth receiver who can fill for an injured starter, but he is not who you want your team going into the season with as the projected starter.
Quentin Johnston was drafted in the first round of last year's draft, but he was a major bust. He was given more targets than Palmer but he caught the same number of passes for 150 fewer yards. PFF gave him a 58.9 receiving grade, making him the 94th-best wide receiver in the league--worse than D.J. Chark and Lil'Jordan Humphrey.
Johnson says he's ready for a breakout in year two, and the Chargers better hope he is.
Who Wins and Loses from the Keenan Allen Trade?
The first obvious winner is Caleb Williams--or Justin Fields, or whoever ends up being the Bears' quarterback this season.
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