I see. I actually was starting to forget DJ was on the team :p. But I don't think we should trade Allen just because it wouldn't be worth it. We won't be getting a 1st for him, and a 2nd or 3rd round pick wouldn't fill the gap he leaves at DE IMO. I say keep him for this year, and if he stays out of trouble, Carl should give him the contract he's asking for (Or close to it) next year.

A 2nd and/or 3rd absolutely WOULD fill the gap. Allen was a 4th-round pick.

We could get TWO players like him, without the off-field issues.

I like him, we need to keep him for the right price

How do you know? The draft is filled with busts. I don't see the point in drafting a DE who has a greater chance at amounting to nothing more than a free-agent in 3 years. We've all seen what Allen can do in a game. His motor doesn't stop! He's going to have to grow a pair and mature, but when/if he does, we'll be kicking ourselves when we see him in a different uniform.

How much time do you give him to mature?

As was pointed out previously, the reason he didn't play D-1 football is because of his drinking problem. He's facing his 3rd-strike DUI.

He's threatening not to show up until he absolutely has to.

Personally, I'm giving him a year to mature. If he does, good. We sign him long term. If he doesn't, as much as it pains me to say it, then I guess he won't be back in KC

That's a damn shame.

Next year, he'll be an unrestricted free agent, meaning if he leaves we get NOTHING.

We can always tag him. But does that mean we can't trade him if we were to decide to?

Yes, we could franchise tag him and still get something for him.

The problem with that is what his tender becomes. Right now as a RFA, it's about $2.5M.

If we franchise him, it becomes the average of the top 5 DE's in the game. Do we want to pay Jared Allen, even for one year, the way Peppers and Freeney get paid?

If you franchise tag him then you are paying him the average top 5 for one of the highest paid positions in the league......unless you think he's Peppers, Freeney good then he's not worth that money.....

If he hasn't matured yet at the age he is, odds are it's gonna be awhile.

And by "a while" you mean "never".

speculation-KC could very well end up w/twice the good and triple the trash.

It's all speculation.

But if this team is truly building for the future, they have to get as many good players as possible.

The best way to do that is trade the players that have TRUE value. We can trade guys like Trent and Wesley but they don't have much value.

We can trade LJ and get ravaged in the process because his on-field value and his trade value are out-of-whack.

Or we can trade a guy like Allen who is actually worth in a trade what we could get out of him on the field. Furthermore, he's facing a 4-game suspension and is one potential incident away from being gone for a season.

i wouldnt mind seeing allen traded one bit but i wouldnt want to get stuck w/ a sulking player because peterson is a hardhead and wants more than what hes worth.
or we trade and go after TWEENERS like we have sooooo many times in the past.
But yeah a trade has more upside in the longrun than keeping a headcase like allen.

Put it this way:

If Vermeil was the coach, I wouldn't trade him.

With Herm here, I'd try to get as many 1st-day draft picks as possible.

Not only do I think we could actually GET something with those picks, but then the cupboard would be fully-stocked when Herm leaves.