Khalil Mack is a Los Angeles Charger, and the Chargers should sell him by November 10. Any version of this story that puts Mack in Chicago has the roster wrong. The Bears traded him to Los Angeles in 2022 and he has re-signed there in each of the past two offseasons.
Adam Schefter named Mack among a handful of players to watch ahead of the 4 p.m. ET deadline on November 10, alongside Cardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat. No team has confirmed it is shopping either man, and no reported trade talks exist for either. Everything past Schefter’s list is speculation, including the widely repeated idea that Los Angeles is shopping him.
The Chargers Have No Reason to Keep Him
Los Angeles entered Week 5 at 0-4, the ugliest start in the league, and Mack is on a one-year, $18 million fully guaranteed contract that expires in March. He turns 36 in February. He has 3.0 sacks, five tackles for loss, five quarterback hits and 14 tackles through four games, which is a useful season for a rotational rusher and a modest one for the price.
That combination makes him the single most tradeable veteran in football right now. A contender gets eight regular season games and a playoff run from a nine-time Pro Bowler with 116 career sacks. The Chargers get draft capital for a player they would otherwise watch leave for nothing. Keeping him accomplishes nothing except preserving the dignity of a 0-4 team.
Los Angeles can still re-sign him in March if Jim Harbaugh wants him back. Trading a pending free agent and re-signing him later is standard practice, not a betrayal.
Chicago Should Be the Team Calling
The Bears are 3-1 and their pass rush is the one thing standing between them and a real January. Dayo Odeyingbo leads the team with 12 pressures and three sacks, mostly working inside. Montez Sweat and Austin Booker have combined for 18 pressures and four sacks, which is not enough production from that pairing.
Dennis Allen’s defense needs a closer on third down, and Chicago has roughly $3 million in cap space, which is workable for a half-season rental on a deal that expires anyway. Ben Johnson’s first team is winning games it has no business winning. That is exactly when a front office spends a mid-round pick.
Josh Sweat is the worse option, and Arizona knows it. Sweat has one sack in four games after posting 12 last year, he is seeking an adjusted contract per Schefter, and his deal runs through 2028 with cap charges around $23.6 million in each of the next two seasons and no guaranteed money left after this one. General manager Monti Ossenfort said in August that Arizona had no plans to move him, and the Cardinals are 1-3.
Any team acquiring Sweat is buying a contract dispute attached to two expensive future years. Mack costs a fraction of that and signs no extension on the way in. The Chargers should take the call, and Chicago should make it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.