Jared Allen may have roped his final calf (quarterback) for the Chicago Bears.
The NFL's big, bad, quarterback-sackin' cowboy could be at the end of the line with the Bears, his third NFL organization, after the team and new head coach John Fox made the surprising decision to hire Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator.
Fox, a longtime proponent of a 4-3 defensive alignment, hired a guy in Fangio who has found immense success in the league with a base 3-4 - in four seasons in San Francisco Fangio's unit never finished outside the top-10 in yards or points allowed per game.
Allen, who faced a similar conundrum while still a member of the Minnesota Vikings in 2011, is not a fan of the 3-4.
"(Defensive end is) where I've made my mark," said Allen then, per 1500 ESPN. "I like what I play, I like what I do, I like that art form."
Allen went on to say - he was set to enter his ninth NFL season and was on the cusp of his 30th birthday at the time - that if he were younger, he'd be more inclined to entertain the notion of a switch to outside linebacker. Now, at age 32 and eyeing his 12th year in the league, it's hard to imagine Allen's feelings on the matter have changed much.
His deal carries only a $1 million base salary for next season, but $12.5 million in dead money if he's on the roster after June 1. The final two years of his deal carry cap hits of $8.5 million, but none of it is guaranteed.
Fox, appearing at the NFL's scouting combine Wednesday, said that the current plan is for Allen to attempt to make the switch to outside linebacker, but that it'll be up to him what position he ends up playing.
"Well again I mean I haven't seen that so it'd be hard for me to evaluate until we get him out there but he's a good football player, he's got good instincts," Fox said, according to Pro Football Talk. "So my experience has been that works in a two-point or a three-point stance."
Fox and Fangio don't have many players that can get to the quarterback on a consistent basis on their roster at the moment - Shea McClellin seems tailor-made for the alignment, though he's had little NFL success thus far - so maybe Allen and the team can figure out some type of hybrid role for next season.
Still, you only have to look back at the veteran defensive end's words in Dec. 2011 to see where his heart truly lies.
"I want to end my career as a defensive end. And I'm not playing a 2-gap, let me just throw that out the window now."
