Keenan Allen Names Two Teams Interested in Trade Before Bears-Chargers Swap

The wide receiver had spent 11 years with his old team.

Seeing wide receiver Keenan Allen on a new team will undoubtedly be a shock to NFL fans in 2024.

After all, Allen had spent his entire 11-year career with the Chargers—following the franchise’s move from San Diego to Los Angeles. He developed into one of the most dependable wide receivers in football, making six Pro Bowls and bridging the tenures of quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert.

Now, Allen is on the Chicago Bears after a Thursday trade. On Saturday, Allen detailed the events that led up to his exit from Los Angeles.

“There were a couple teams that they would allow me, I guess, to say where I wanted to go,” Allen said. “I only had like two teams.”

Allen later revealed the two teams interested in acquiring him as the Houston Texans and New York Jets.

He also told reporters the Chargers had asked him to take a pay cut, and he refused.

“It really was no emotion. It was ‘I’m not doing it,’” Allen said. “I’m not doing it. I just came off my best season, so it’s not happening.”

Allen averaged 95.6 receiving yards per game in 2023, the highest total of his career.