Who Should I Start? Ian Thomas or Keenan Allen

Sunday, April 7, 1:31 PM

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman predicts that the Arizona Cardinals will trade down to pick No. 11 in a swap with the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of this year's NFL draft to take LSU wide receiver BrIan Thomas. The 21-year-old pass-catcher has been in the shadow of fellow wideout Malik Nabers, but he was terrific at the scouting combine in February to raise his draft stock tremendously. He also had 68 receptions for 1,177 yards and led the FBS with 17 touchdowns in 2023. "Potentially, I think can be really good in the NFL. He was a red zone nightmare. Even if you were in great position, he could still win those 50-50 balls. But he didn't scare you with (yards after catch) like Nabers did," one coach said. Adding another receiving weapon for quarterback Kyler Murray makes a lot of sense, especially when considering Arizona's top-three receivers are currently Michael Wilson, Chris Moore and Greg Dortch.

Monday, March 25, 2:51 PM

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles said he thinks a long-term contract extension will come "down the road" for new wide receiver Keenan Allen, who is entering the final year of a four-year deal in 2024. "I try to be intentional with the order that we do extensions, so we'll review that and kind of see what our order looks like. But for what he stands for, I would love to have him long term," Poles said. The Bears might look to lock up DJ Moore first, but Chicago wants to keep their one-two punch of Moore and Allen around in the Windy City long term for USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who the Bears are expected to take first overall in the upcoming NFL draft. Despite missing the last four games in 2023 with an injury, Allen had a career-high 108 catches for 1,243 yards and seven TDs in 13 games for the Bolts. However, his numbers could come down in his first year in Chicago while sharing the load with Moore with a rookie QB likely running the offense.