Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen is entering the last season of a six-year deal. Naturally, even if he wants to hold off until next offseason, he's going to get questions about his future. In a wide-ranging recent interview with Dan Wiederer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune -- including the decision to bring back his famous mullet -- posted Wednesday, Allen made it pretty clear that any future talks with the team won't include discussions of a pay cut.
Jared Allen contract: Vikings DE not interested in pay cut
Entering a contract season, Allen isn’t as keen on taking less money as he is on, for example, mullets.
Jamie Squire
Wiederer asked Allen if the Vikings have talked to him about restructuring his current deal. Here’s Allen’s response:
“You use the word restructure and that to me makes it feel like they’d want me to take a pay cut. And if anybody asked me to take a pay cut, I’d be through the first door out of there. So no. We haven’t talked one iota. It is what it is. And we’re going to go about our business and play good ball and try to win a Super Bowl. And like I said the business stuff? We take care of that in the offseason. I have people to do that. That’s why I don’t get into it. You’re not going to hear it from me. I won’t complain. I go about my business.”
While Allen, who is set to make $14,280,612 in 2013, apparently doesn’t want to delve into the details, he has laid some pretty obvious groundwork here, too. At 31 years old and nearing 100 percent after recovering from knee and shoulder surgeries this offseason, Allen enters an important season -- as all contract years are -- because the window for him to snag another big multiyear deal is likely not as large as it was a few seasons ago.
Allen’s goal is clearly to do just that, but his comments give Minnesota some advanced notice. If he does have the sort of season that quells any lingering injury concerns and, perhaps, continues his six-season streak of double-digit sacks (he registered 12 in 2012 and 22 in 2011), it doesn’t sound like the Vikings will be getting any hometown discount to retain his disruptive services in the future.
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