Chargers general manager Tom Telesco made it clear Wednesday that cutting veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen was not the answer to the team’s significant salary-cap issues. The Chargers are $20 million over the cap and must make moves to get under it by a March 15 deadline.
Shedding the longest-tenured Charger on the roster is not the way to get under the cap, according to Telesco. Other moves must be made, but cutting Allen from the roster apparently is not one of them, although it could save the Chargers as much as $17.5 million if they did.
“Keenan Allen, to me, he’s our Andre Reed, he’s our Charlie Joiner,” Telesco said during an interview with the NFL Network from the draft combine in Indianapolis. “He’s an incredible football player. We have a great quarterback (Justin Herbert) and we need weapons around him. There’s never been any thought of that.”
Reed spent 15 of his 16 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. Joiner was with the Chargers for the last 11 of his 18 seasons in the NFL. Both are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
“So, he’s with us,” Telesco said of Allen, a five-time Pro Bowl selection who has played each of his 10 seasons in the NFL with the Chargers. “And between him and Mike Williams and Josh Palmer, we think that’s a great three receivers for our quarterback. We have Austin Ekeler at running back. We have an offensive line that can protect (Herbert). So, there are key weapons we need for our quarterback.
“We’re thrilled with Keenan.”
Allen, 30, ranks second on the Chargers’ all-time receiving list behind Antonio Gates with 796 catches during his career. Gates, a tight end, had 955 receptions during his stellar 16-year career with the Chargers before retiring after the 2018 season at the age of 38. Allen also is third in franchise history in receiving yards with 9,287, trailing only Gates (11,841) and Lance Alworth (9,584).
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