Elliot Stabler's return on Law & Order: SVU may have been just to springboard his spin-off, Law & Order: Organized Crime, but it also subtly set up the possibility of him reuniting with his former division. After almost a decade since he left the task force, Stabler finds his way back to New York where he met up with his old allies, Olivia Benson and Fin Tutuola. However, SVU was only a stop on his journey to his brand new job heading a different task force that specializes in cracking the city's most powerful crime syndicates.
Chris Meloni was part of the original cast of Law & Order: SVU alongside Mariska Hargitay. Together as Benson and Stabler, they tackled some of the most heinous sex crimes in New York until that partnership abruptly ended in season 12. Behind-the-scenes, it all boiled down to contract renegotiations falling through, causing the actor to walk away from the role. Due to how things panned out, writers for the police procedural had to find a way to explain Stabler's sudden disappearance; supposedly, the detective refused to be subjected to an internal investigation after a precinct shooting and opted to just retire.
Now, Meloni makes his return to the Law & Order franchise through Law & Order: SVU's latest episode aptly titled "The Return of the Prodigal Son," where he explained what he's been up to in the last several years. As it turns out, he previously worked in private security in Europe which led him to join the terrorism task force. Ultimately, he became a liaison to the NYPD known as "man in Rome." He specialized in sex trafficking and organized crime — the latter one presumably helped him nab his new gig leading an elite team that hunts down New York's worst crime syndicates. It's the latter, however, that maintains his ties to the Special Victims Unit as it's among the cases Benson and her team handles. So while Stabler is working in an entirely different division, the fact he has recent experience dealing with sex-based offenses leaves the door open for his potential permanent return to Law & Order: SVU.
While it makes sense that Stabler still handles cases related to his old job at SVU, it's also an unnecessary detail if the franchise was simply explaining where he's been and setting up his future on Law & Order: Organized Crime. Mentioning it establishes that even after he left his old job, he continued to exercise his detective skills in the same area. So although it's around a decade since he worked at SVU, he has had recent experience handling such matters, effectively making it easier for him to join Benson's team later on. This is actually a clever move as it guarantees Meloni can quickly transition to SVU in case his own spin-off doesn't resonate with viewers.
It's too early to predict what will become of this new Dick Wolf spin-off considering that it just premiered. However, it's good to know the showrunners have this option in case things don't go work out with the new series. In the meantime, Stabler will be focusing on his new role on Law & Order: Organized Crime, while Benson returns as the captain of her team on Law & Order: SVU.