After only a year away from Los Angeles, veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen has indeed returned to the Chargers. After much speculation in the past few days, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero broke the news of Allen’s new one-year, $8.52MM deal. 
After finishing his lone season in Chicago, in which he had a modest yet still impressive 70 receptions for 744 yards and seven touchdowns, Allen expressed interest in playing in only one of two cities in 2025: Chicago or Los Angeles. In the weeks leading up to free agency, though, the Bears seemed all but willing to let Allen walk in free agency. The Chargers, on the other hand, expressed some openness to a reunion with their long-time leading receiver.
Los Angeles had already reunited with Allen’s long-time teammate Mike Williams in March, and the idea of getting the band back together after only a one-year hiatus was looking like a decent possibility. Unfortunately for that possibility, Williams opted to announce his retirement just two and half weeks ago, perhaps opening the door for another veteran leader to take his slot on the roster.
Four days ago, the 33-year-old pass catcher visited the team that drafted him in the third round all those years ago out of Cal, and a day after head coach Jim Harbaugh finally expressed some interest in bringing Allen back to the locker room, the deal gets done.
Allen joins a young group of receivers in Los Angeles for the 2025 season. The Chargers’ top talent at the position is a second-year Ladd McConkey, a third-year Quentin Johnston, a rookie second-round Tre Harris, and a third-year Derius Davis. The TCU alums, Johnston and Davis, are familiar to Allen from his last season with the team, but the SEC pair are new faces in Allen’s return to the room.
With McConkey expected to be a mainstay in the slot after a phenomenal rookie season (82 catches, 1,149 yards, seven touchdowns), Allen can’t easily slip into that inside role, despite the tendency for players of his age to transition from an outside role. Johnston and Harris have plenty of size to work on the outsides, while Davis works as the primary return man.
Roles seem to be pretty clearly defined, so Allen could end up as the first man off the bench at any position or he may still be able to work effectively as an outside starter over either Johnston or Harris. Whatever role he plays, he shouldn’t have to work hard to reestablish the existing chemistry with quarterback Justin Herbert. We’ll see how he fits in with the new group in the weeks to come, but in the end his most valuable asset may be the leadership jersey No. 13 provides to the room in Year 13.