The Jets and Houston Texans "had interest" in trading for Keenan Allen before the Los Angeles Chargers' Friday deal with the Chicago Bears, the six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver told reporters in an introductory news conference Saturday.
"There was a couple teams that they would allow me, I guess, to say where I wanted to go," Allen said. "I only had like two teams."
A media member subsequently asked, "You said there were two teams you wanted to go to?"
"That had interest, yeah," Allen said.
The person followed up, "What were they?"
"Jets and Houston," Allen said.
Allen's "conversation with the Jets was just a conversation" and "no serious offers" were "made," according to a report Saturday by The Athletic's Diana Russini.
"The Texans were close to landing Allen in Houston to play with CJ Stroud," Russini wrote Saturday on X. "In the end, Bears made best offer to Chargers."
The Bears traded a fourth-round pick for Allen, whose 32nd birthday is April 27.
He enters his 12th NFL season in a contract year. The 6-foot-2, 211-pounder has a $18.1 million base salary and $5 million roster bonus while carrying a $23.1 million cap hit, according to Spotrac.
"We're just kind of taking it one day at a time," Allen said of his future in Chicago. "I've got one year left. We'll see what happens."
In 13 games last season, Allen caught a career-high 108 passes. He rounded out his production with 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns.
"I just kind of go year by year, stay in the moment," Allen said of retirement, "and when my body says, 'No more,' that's when we'll have that conversation."