Chicago Bears defensive end Jared Allen has admitted that he never planned to retire from the NFL if he didn't get the deal he wanted during free agency.
The 31-year-old visited with the Seattle Seahawks and was reportedly close to a deal with the Denver Broncos, before he finally decided to pen a four-year deal with the Bears.
"It was never my intent but my point was that if I was going to throw my cleats and pads on for a team that had no chance," Allen told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
"They're rebuilding at this point in your career and you're laying it all out there because I still feel like I'm the best at what I do. If not the [best], one of.
"There's always a threshold that I had to excess and say, 'Is it worth going below this?' But that was kind of my process going through. It was never, 'Oh, if I don't get X amount of dollars, I'm walking away.' That was never the case."
Allen recorded 52 tackles and 11.5 sacks for the Minnesota Vikings last season.
Simon Sinclair
