Nikola Jokic's love for horses has transcended the realm of basketball. On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Chargers' social media team used a video clip of the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player emotionally celebrating with his horse to sum up what the team was feeling following LA's reunion with wide receiver Keenan Allen.

Allen is returning to the Chargers on a reported one-year contract worth $8.52 million. After spending a season with the Chicago Bears, the 33-year-old Allen is back with the franchise that took him in the third round (76th overall) of the 2013 NFL draft and played with for 11 seasons before he got traded to Chicago in 2024.

During his lone season with the Bears, Allen displayed reliability downfield, even though Chicago operated with an inexperienced quarterback in rookie Caleb Williams. Allen was second among Bears players with 744 receiving yards and No. 1 with seven touchdown catches while recording 70 receptions on 121 targets through 15 games.

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Allen can still be a prolific target for the Chargers, but one concern about him is whether his body will be able to hold up for an entire season. That has been a constant challenge for Allen in his pro career in the NFL. He has not played a full season since 2019. He saw action in 16 games in 2021 with the Chargers, but that was when the league had already adopted the 17-game season.

A product of the California Golden Bears football program, Allen had 10,530 receiving yards and 59 touchdowns in his first 11 seasons in the league with the Chargers.

Allen joins a young but promising cast of LA wideouts, with him expected to provide veteran leadership in the Chargers locker room. Ladd McConkey, who led Los Angeles with 1,149 receiving yards to go with seven touchdowns in his rookie NFL season in 2024, will find himself working alongside Allen, as do the likes of Quentin Johnston and rookie Tre Harris. Also on the Chargers depth chart are Jalen Reagor, Derius Davis and KeAndre Lambert-Smith.

It remains to be seen what kind of role Allen will have in his second stint with the Chargers, but he can be viewed as a big plus for a Los Angeles attack that averaged 23.5 points per game and 213.5 passing yards per outing.

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