General manager Tom Telesco is doing his best to assure Chargers fans that wide receiver Keenan Allen is staying in Los Angeles.
Hall of Fame wideout Andre Reed spent 15 of his 16 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, while Hall of Fame wide receiver Charlie Joiner suited up for the then-San Diego Chargers for 11 of his 19 NFL campaigns. Telesco was hired as the Chargers GM in January 2013 and a few months later, the franchise selected Allen in the third round of the NFL Draft.
The University of California product was the 2013 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up and had a strong 2014 season as well, before being limited to eight games in 2015 and one contest in 2016. Allen bounced back to record his first 100-catch season in 2017, post six touchdown receptions and register career highs in targets (159) and receiving yards (1,393), while earning the AP Comeback Player of the Year award and the first of his five straight Pro Bowl honors.
Allen is second on the franchise’s all-time receptions leaderboard (796) and passed Joiner for third place on the team’s all-time list for receiving yards (9,287) last season. Despite missing seven games due to injury during the 2022 campaign, Allen finished tied for second on the Chargers in receiving touchdowns (four) and third in receptions (66) and receiving yards (752).
In early February, however, The Athletic reported that the 30-year-old was the most likely Chargers player to be cut or traded for salary cap relief. Per Over the Cap, if Los Angeles were to release Allen after the June 1 deadline, the organization would save $17.5M and incur a $4.2M cap hit as opposed to $14.8M and $6.9M respectively if a move were to come before that.
If Telesco sticks to his word, however, Allen won’t be going anywhere.
