A reunion months in the making finally became official when the LA Chargers signed Keenan Allen to a one-year, $8.52 million deal. Allen now finds himself in a Chargers wide receiver room that looks much different than the one he left. He also finds himself in a different role.
Allen was the bona fide WR1 when he was previously with the Chargers but that is no longer the reality. Ladd McConkey has taken that role and won't give it up to Allen. Instead, Allen finds himself as a veteran cog on the wheel who elevates the floor of the offense while providing veteran leadership for a young receiving corps.
Many fans had given up on an Allen reunion after the team signed Mike Williams and drafted two wideouts in the 2025 NFL Draft. While the door may have closed slightly after those moves, it swung back open when Williams abruptly retired on the first day of training camp. According to general manager Joe Hortiz, this all played a factor in signing Allen.
"Mike leaving may have opened up more of an opportunity, but I've always talked to Keenan as an option," Hortiz said via Eric Smith of Chargers.com. "We've had conversations with his agent and it just kind of came to fruition."
Keenan Allen was always an option for the Chargers but Mike Williams' retirement expedited the move
Hortiz confirms what many Chargers fans already knew was the case: Allen has always been an option for the Bolts but was a more serious option once Williams retires. This goes hand-in-hand with fans' expectations throughout the offseason.
It's pretty clear how the Chargers were approaching Allen's potential return to Los Angeles. The team wanted to see not only what it had in rookies Tre' Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, but third-year wideout Quentin Johnston as well.
If there were any questions whatsoever about their ability to produce then Allen was an obvious fallback option for the team to explore. The Chargers had to see it play out in camp first.
Williams' retirement created more of an opportunity. With one less receiver on the depth chart, it didn't matter as much if the rookies and Johnston were struggling in camp. The Chargers had the slot to use and are a better team using that space on Allen instead of Jalen Reagor. That is a stone-cold fact.
Hortiz essentially confirming this also confirms fans' suspicions from the offseason. Fans knew that there had to be some kind of ulterior motive, especially considering Allen was clear about only wanting to play in Chicago or LA.
If Williams didn't retire maybe it would have taken another preseason game or two for the Chargers to come to the same conclusion. Heck, maybe they wouldn't have needed Allen at all (although that is unlikely as Harris and Johnston haven't lit the world on fire so far).
Either way, Allen is back where he belongs with the Chargers. It's unfortunate Chargers fans don't get to see him and Williams back at the same time but we will take what we can get.