The San Francisco 49ers traded for Keenan Allen from the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday at the NFL trade deadline. With San Francisco’s wide receiver room dealing with injuries throughout the season, Allen’s arrival could provide some wiggle room to the offense.

Allen also becomes the 49ers’ second trade with Indianapolis in two weeks, following their deal for DeForest Buckner. His addition creates the possibility for San Francisco of having both him and Mike Evans on the field together, provided the injury situation allows it.

Their potential partnership also has an interesting backstory. Six years after Allen publicly challenged Evans, the two wide receivers are now set to become teammates in San Francisco.

Fans Revisit Keenan Allen and Mike Evans’ Old Heated Exchange

The incident dates back to July 2020, when the NFL released its Top 100 player rankings. Allen wasn’t happy with his position on the list and tweeted to defend his abilities as a receiver. He specifically mentioned Tyreek Hill, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin, arguing that they weren’t better receivers than him.

“Faster than me…every day of the week but separation..CHILD PLEASE!” Allen added while tagging all of them, but he mistakenly tagged the wrong Godwin account.

Evans promptly called out Allen at the time for tagging the wrong person and told him not to blame the players for the rankings, while questioning Allen’s confidence.

“I like the confidence but be realistic you not on my level bro,” Evans wrote.

Considering Allen and Evans are now teammates, the old exchange resurfaced after Niners Nation’s Jason Aponte highlighted their past interaction, pointing out the irony of the situation.

“This is hilarious now considering today,” Aponte wrote.

Many fans soon joined the discussion.

“Trying to avoid the headache of (Brandon) Aiyuk and bringing in this drama…. Yikes,” a fan remarked.

Despite it being a pretty old incident, the fan argued that the disagreement could eventually resurface.

“You think WRs…. The divas of the NFL, forget these things??? Wait till a loss or one of them isn’t getting the targets, tweet me in February,” the fan added.

Both receivers enjoyed productive campaigns the season of their beef.

Evans recorded 70 receptions for 1,006 yards and 13 touchdowns in 16 games. Allen was also incredible, finishing with 100 catches for 992 yards and eight touchdowns in 14 appearances.

“Yo.. I forgot they had beef,” one fan said as the exchange resurfaced.

Bucs insider Greg Auman also took note of that 2020 beef, writing, “That’s right. Mike Evans firing back at Keenan Allen six years ago: ‘You not on my level, bro.’ Great pull.”

Allen currently holds the No. 52 spot in PFN’s WR Impact Metric with a 72.1 grade. His experience and established production should make him a natural fit in an offense that relies heavily on veterans.

Meanwhile, Brandon Aiyuk’s future remains unresolved. The NFL reinstated him Monday and granted San Francisco a roster exemption through November 23, but the 49ers have indicated they do not expect him to play for the team again.