One year after cutting him to become cap-compliant, the LA Chargers shocked the fanbase by re-signing Mike Williams to a one-year deal. Williams is back with the team that drafted him as the Chargers look to recapture the magic that existed between him and Justin Herbert.
The options are dwindling in free agency and after reuniting with Williams, the Chargers may look to do the same with other former Chargers who are on the market. After all, the team already set this precedent a year ago by bringing back linebacker Denzel Perryman.
Here are the most-likely options if the Chargers decide to go down that path.
3 former Chargers the team can re-sign after Mike Williams:
Keenan Allen
Let's start with the most obvious one, shall we? Keenan Allen has been connected to a Chargers reunion long before the team re-signed Williams. In fact, Allen has outright said that he only wants to play in Chicago or Los Angeles next season.
With the Bears spending big on the offensive line and the Rams signing Davante Adams, there is only one place left for Allen to go. And quite frankly, it makes all the sense in the world for the Chargers to reunite Allen and Williams back in LA.
There may be a positional and stylistic overlap with Ladd McConkey but there is also no such thing as too many weapons. Allen would give the team a reliable separator who could instantly boost the team on third downs and in the red zone.
Gerald Everett
Never in a million years did Gerald Everett actually seem like he would be a reunion candidate for the Chargers this offseason. However, the tight end options are starting to dry up and Everett is sitting there free to sign after being released by the Chicago Bears.
If Mark Andrews and Dallas Goedert don't end up being realistic options then the Bolts will have to turn to free agency for some depth at the tight end position. It would be irresponsible to head into the NFL Draft with Will Dissly and Tucker Fisk as the only tight end options, regardless of how stacked the class may be.
Everett essentially did nothing in Chicago last season but he still has potential as a pass-catching tight end. The days of him being a TE1 are rightfully over but he would at least be a rich man's version of Stone Smartt, who the Chargers let walk right out the door.
Nick Vigil
Here is a pull out of left field. Linebacker Nick Vigil spent one year with the Chargers in 2020 and played 32% of the team's defensive snaps. The Chargers wouldn't re-sign Vigil to play on defense, though, as that is already sorted with the top-four linebackers set in stone in the roster.
Instead, the Chargers could bring Vigil in to do what he has done the last several years: play special teams. Vigil has exclusively been a special teams player the last two years and has succeeded in that role. Last year, he posted a 72.0 PFF grade on special teams with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Chargers lost an important member of the special teams when Nick Niemann signed with the Houston Texans. While the Chargers followed that up by re-signing Troy Dye, the team still needs someone to replace Niemann on the special teams side of the ball.
As it stands right now, the Chargers literally do not have a fifth linebacker on the depth chart to serve in that role. Perhaps the team will turn to a former Charger who has no problem only playing on special teams.