Jared Allen’s agent, Peterson disagree on how they ended up at trade
By Kent Babb
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)
Jared Allen and the Chiefs agreed to part ways this week, but that might be all they agreed upon.
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Allen’s agent, Ken Harris, and Chiefs president Carl Peterson told conflicting versions Wednesday of how and why negotiations broke down to keep the All-Pro defensive end in Kansas City.
Peterson said the sides discussed a potential multi-year contract, but that Harris "wasn’t interested in any offers." Harris told The Kansas City Star late Wednesday he has the airline miles to prove otherwise.
"We were the ones chasing. We were the only ones to make a formal proposal," Harris said. "Last year, Jared had me running around the country, to the Super Bowl and the Senior Bowl and the combine and those sorts of things, making proposals to the Chiefs. We didn’t ever really feel like it was going to end up with a contract agreement."
The Chiefs finalized a trade Wednesday that sent Allen to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for three draft picks. Allen signed a contract with the Vikings worth a reported $74 million, including $ 31 million in guarantees.
Allen said in late December he had heard nothing from the Chiefs about a new contract. Harris said Wednesday that as early as last year’s NFL scouting combine, in February, Allen began to believe he wouldn’t remain in Kansas City after his contract with the Chiefs expired.
"It was no secret that me and management had clashes over contract extensions," Allen said Wednesday.
But Peterson downplayed talk that he and Allen had a tense relationship or any kind of clash. Peterson said he and Chiefs vice president Denny Thum met with Allen but that there were no negotiations.
"There was nothing at that particular time that was on the table. Sometimes, it takes a little time for those things to happen," Peterson said. "It was still our plan to work on a multi-year contract for Jared."
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Harris said that during one of the discussions, the sides informally agreed that they seemed too far apart on an agreement and that it might be time for Allen to move on.
"There didn’t seem to be a big push on anybody’s side to do anything different," Harris said.
Peterson said his experience was different.
"He’s never said to me, ‘Carl, I’ll never play as a Kansas City Chief,’ " Peterson said. "Maybe he told you (reporters). Maybe he told Herm (Edwards). But he’s never told me that."
Harris admitted he and Allen did not vigorously pursue a new deal after talks broke down last year, when Harris said he made proposals to Chiefs executives. Since then, Harris said, it was a foregone conclusion that at some point, the sides would go their separate ways.
Harris said when Allen heard about the Vikings’ contract offer, his reaction was more relief than anything else. Harris said it was far different from Allen’s experience with the Chiefs.
"No matter what we tried, it just didn’t seem like it was going anywhere," Harris said. "Given the history of how this has gone, I don’t think Jared or I thought that was in the cards."
Chiefs reporter Adam Teicher contributed to this story.
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