Former AFC West rival lingers as a solid free agent fit for the Raiders

It seems likely the Las Vegas Raiders will come out of the 2025 draft with a wide receiver, perhaps as early as No. 6 overall (Tetairoa McMillan?). But outside of Jakobi Myers, depth is a concern at the position and one player won’t completely fix that. It’s also fair to say the Raiders in something of a “win now” mode with Pete Carroll as head coach, as challenging as that will be in an AFC West that had three playoff teams last year. So adding some proverbial short-term pieces from what’s left on the free agent market is likely on the radar.

To that end, there is a free agent wide receiver who has made sense for the Raiders essentially since Carroll was hired. Why the move hasn’t been made yet is likely explained by the draft, since signing free agents afterward will not impact the 2026 compensatory draft pick formula.

But until then, the door is open for the Raiders to pivot to a different veteran receiver who looks like a similarly good fit. Mark Stolte of Pro Football Network has named one remaining free agent each NFL team should sign. Multiple directions could be taken for the Raiders, but wide receiver Keenan Allen was the choice.

Allen will turn 33 on April 27, so his days as a 150-target, 100-catch guy like he was at his peak with the Chargers are over. He had a relatively down year with the Chicago Bears in 2024, but he still had 70 catches and seven touchdowns despite being targeted on the lowest percentage of his routes (22 percent) since his rookie season. According to Player Profiler, his target accuracy rating (6 on a scale of 1-10) was outside the top-80 among wide receivers and his unrealized air yards were 20th-most last season.

Allen has history with one of the Raiders’ coaches. Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty was the Bears’ wide receivers coach, and eventually interim offensive coordinator, last year. Prior to that, Beatty was the Chargers’ wide receivers coach for Allen’s last three seasons there (2021-2023). That history could have Allen waiting for the time to be right for the Raiders to sign him, over and above any interest he has from other teams. The compensatory pick formula has to be layered into why any free agent is still available right now. Allen lingers as a fit for the Raiders until further notice, separate from, and regardless of, what they do to add a wide receiver in the draft.