LeSean McCoy - I am concerned about his age and think other GMs would be as well. I Would let him go because you got other, safer options
Kareem Hunt - Must keep after last year!!
Julio Jones - Debate below
Keenan Allen- Debate below
Michael Thomas - His target share and his talent and age - definite keeper
Rob Gronkowski - Still the best TE in the game.. others are getting closer... but you got to keep him!
It comes down to Allen vs Jones here. And it is a horribly tough decision. Lets look at important factors:
Age - Allen (26 years) Jones (29 years) - So slight advantage to Allen, but its not like Jones is old by any terms. (TIE)
Injury - Allen has missed a lot of games in the recent history. Jones hasn't missed as much time since 2013. Having a keeper that isn't an injury risk is important. But anyone in the NFL is an injury risk. But Allen has missed a lot where Jones has been healthy. (Advantage -Jones)
Receptions - Allen had 102 receptions last year, a career high by like 25. Jones had 88 receptions last year, quite a bit less than career year. If we are basing it off just last year, the advantage is for Allen for having 14 more receptions and he was lighting it up at the end of the season. If we base it on the career receptions per year, Jones has the advantage beause he has several 80 + receptions with a high of 136. (TIE)
TDs - Allen had 6 last year, Jones had 3 last year. TDs are so hard to predict and it is not like Allen had 8 more TDs than Allen, a gap of 3 TDs is minimal (TIE)
Team offense - Rivers is 36 years old. Matt Ryan is 32. Both have talented backfields. Allen and Jones are both the main target for these quarterbacks (TIE)
So basically this is as close as it can get.
Conclusion -
Base on my analysis above, I would have to go with Jones, but by the tiniest of margins. And it is only because Allen's injury risk scares me. But as I mentioned above, injury risk is such a fickle item to base a keeper decision on. Look at top-notch keepers last year David Johnson and Odell Beckham JR... both injured early and without much injury history. So basically it is a very weak tie breaker. And even as I am typing this I am trying to find a reason to recommend Allen because I have high expectations for the Chargers offense this year and fell in love with Allen late in the season last year cause he was amazing. And it might be some bias against Jones because he plays for Atlanta which is in the same division as CArolina. I think you have to go with the guy you trust most and hope they don't get injured!!