Bears RB Tarik Cohen jokes he 'left money on the plate' for Allen Robinson

Bears running back Tarik Cohen remains a staunch supporter of Allen Robinson’s efforts to work out a contract extension with the team.

Cohen, who signed a three-year extension over the weekend, joked Tuesday that he left money on the table for Robinson.

“I feel like regardless of whether I got mine or not, it’s definitely time for him to get his, to get extended,” Cohen said. “I even left some money on the plate. I took less so he could get more, so to say. I would definitely love to see my boy get extended.”

Cohen later clarified on Twitter that he was joking. But it's the thought that counts.

Cohen agreed to a contract worth $17.25 million over three years, with the ability to go up to as much as $18.25, according to a report from ESPN. He will be in a Bears uniform through 2023. The team officially announced the extension hours before Sunday’s win against the New York Giants.

Cohen’s rookie contract, which he is still on through this year, was worth about $3 million in total, according to spotrac.com. The 25-year-old is in for a significant raise.

When asked about his hard-earned pay increase, Cohen laughed and said it won’t feel real until he sees it in his bank account.

“Once I do something for my family, what I've always been wanting to do, like get my mom a house, I feel like that's when the moment will really hit me,” Cohen said. “Right now, I'm feeling the grind. [I] just got finished working out, feel like it's just regular Tarik.”

Cohen sounded as if he had little interest in hitting the free agent market after the 2020 season.

“The Bears offered me a good deal and the history that I have with the team and just the family-like bond that I feel, not only with the players but the ownership and the coaching,” Cohen said. “I felt like it was only right for me to stay here.”

Cohen has never missed a game since the Bears drafted him with a fourth-round pick in 2017 out of North Carolina A&T. He’s been durable, and productive.

Cohen was a Pro Bowl selection in 2018 and was an All-Pro punt returner that same year. In 2018, Cohen recorded a team-leading 725 receiving yards on 71 receptions (10.2 average), with five touchdowns. He also had 33 punt returns for 411 yards (12.5 average).

He struggled more last season, along with the rest of the Bears offense. Cohen appeared in 16 games, with 11 starts, rushing 64 times for 213 yards, with a career-high 79 receptions for 456 yards and three touchdowns.

While he’s only seen 12 carries through two games in 2020, Cohen is averaging 4.4 yards per carry, and is second on the team with 53 rushing yards (behind only David Montgomery’s 146 yards on 29 carries).

Montgomery said Sunday that he was happy for his running mate.

“My dog really been grinding,” Montgomery said after Sunday’s win. “Since I've been here last year, you can see how much of a leader he is and how much fun he has with the game. The highs and the lows. The kind of character the guy has, he deserves it. He really deserves more. I'm happy my guy was able to reap what he sowed."

Cohen wasn't happy with his 2019 season, and said this summer that he worked hard in the offseason, with a focus that he didn't have the previous summer.

He thinks the Bears saw that. The team could have waited for Cohen to prove last year was a fluke. The organization opted not to do that.

“They saw the way I approached this offseason, putting last year behind me, and just trying to be a better me and fit better into the offense and become that weapon that they see me as,” Cohen said.

The Bears have signed two of their five 2017 draft picks to long-term extensions: Cohen and safety Eddie Jackson. The 2017 draft will always be known as the Mitch Trubisky draft, and it will always be analyzed as such.

Still, finding Cohen and Jackson, two Pro Bowlers, in the fourth round has to go down as a win for general manager Ryan Pace.