Veteran pass rusher Jared Allen is not discounting the possibility of retirement if he does not get a worthy offer, his agent Ken Harris said in an email addressed to the Pioneer Press on Wednesday.
Allen, who recently left the Minnesota Vikings to become a free agent, has been approached by the Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks, and most recently the Denver Broncos. However, Harris stated that Allen has yet to reach an agreement with any of these teams. According to a report given by NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, the Broncos have already shifted their sights to former Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware and signed a whopping $30 million contract good for three years.
Rapoport added that Allen knows his market value and that he wants to get what he is worth from any interested team. If Allen is unable to reach an agreement with anyone, he would be “very much at peace” with retiring from professional football altogether. It is interesting to note however, that the Broncos had offered Allen the exact same offer they gave to Ware, but Rapoport reported that the deal fell through because Denver made Allen wait as they conversed with Ware.
As a decorated pass rusher who averaged 13 sacks per season in his decade-long career in the NFL, Allen has definitely done enough to demand his desired salary, despite his lack of a championship. However, it seems like teams are forgoing highly capable but aging pass rushers for younger players. Rapoport stated that Allen may be taking a page out of former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, who quit pro football at the height of his career. Sanders’ sudden retirement came after a controversial legal battle between him and the Lions, which concerned a $5.5 million bonus that the team demanded Sanders to return.
Allen, who is a Dallas native, attended Idaho State University wherein he played college football and won the Buck Buchanan Award . In the 2004 NFL Draft, he was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs and was elected as the American Football Conference’s starting defensive end in the 2007 Pro Bowl. Allen was traded by the Chiefs to the Minnesota Vikings the following year and received a six-year, $72.36 million contract with a signing bonus of $15.5 million – the highest deal for a defensive player in the league’s history at the time.
Allen is also known to be actively involved in non-football related causes and charities such as a Downey, California animal shelter and his own Jared Allen’s Home 4 Wounded Warriors.
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