The Chargers’ attempt to reunite with standout wide receiver Mike Williams didn’t pan out after he signed a one-year contract in March. He announced on the opening day of training camp July 17 that he would retire from the NFL after eight seasons, including seven with the Chargers.
Would a return of another standout ex-Chargers wide receiver after one season away from the franchise work out for both parties while also solving the team’s depth issues at the position?
Keenan Allen, a free agent, was set to meet with the Chargers on Friday, according to multiple reports. Allen, like Williams, was a favorite target of quarterback Justin Herbert and spent his entire NFL career with the Chargers until they traded him in March 2024 to the Chicago Bears.
Allen, 33, and Williams, 30, were jettisoned last year in a pair of cost-cutting moves. Williams signed with the New York Jets and then was dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chargers signed him as a free agent March 12 on a one-season deal potentially worth up to $6 million.
Neither player had an especially productive 2024 season.
Allen caught 70 passes for 744 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games with the Bears, down from 108 receptions for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games in 2023, the last of his 11 seasons with the Chargers. He was a third-round pick of the then-San Diego Chargers in 2013.
Williams caught 21 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown in 18 games split between the Jets and Steelers in 2024, comparable to the 19 catches for 249 yards and one touchdown in only three games with the Chargers in ‘23. A knee injury sidelined him for the final 14 games in 2023.
The Chargers went 11-6 last season and advanced to an AFC wild-card game without Allen and Williams. Herbert relied on Ladd McConkey, who broke Allen’s Chargers rookie receiving records with 82 catches for 1,149 yards, and Quentin Johnston, who improved greatly after a shaky rookie season.
Allen would provide Herbert with a target he knows well and provide a youthful receiving corps, including rookies Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, with enhanced leadership. Harris and Lambert-Smith made their Chargers debuts in a 34-7 preseason victory Thursday over the Detroit Lions.
In addition, Allen could resume his chase of the Chargers’ all-time receiving records held by Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates. Allen had 904 receptions for 10,530 yards in 139 games with the Chargers. Gates had 955 catches for 11,841 yards in 236 games for the Chargers from 2003-18.
Gates will be enshrined along with Eric Allen, Jared Allen and Sterling Sharpe in the Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in Canton, Ohio (ESPN, 10 a.m. PDT).