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Is a reunion with Khalil Mack in the cards for the Chicago Bears?
The Chicago Bears need a dominant edge-rusher like the one they had for four seasons between 2018-21 when they employed Khalil Mack, so why not simply run it back with the now 35-year-old pocket disruptor?
Mack announced on Monday, March 2 that he has no intention of retiring ahead of his 13th NFL season and is thus bound for free agency when the new league year begins nine days from now.
“#Chargers legend Khalil Mack, one of the top edges available, will play in 2026, sources say. At the age of 35, coming off a strong season, Mack is a priority for LA,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported on social media. “Instead of retirement, Mack is back exploring all options and will be a big-time target in free agency.”
Khalil Mack Likely to Hit Free Agency, Become Option for Bears
GettyPass-rusher Khalil Mack of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Rapoport isn’t the first league insider to report that the Chargers want Mack back. However, there is a reasonable chance he plays elsewhere in 2026.
“The Chargers have a pair of free agent edge-rushers in Odafe Oweh and Khalil Mack,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote Sunday as the NFL Combine drew to a close. “They’d like to have them back, but they recognize that there’s good depth in free agency and the draft this offseason at edge-rusher. They feel they’d be in good position to replace them if they left.”
Mack isn’t a longterm answer in Chicago, but he is a viable plug-and-play pass-rusher for a defense badly in need of an upgrade there until it can find the young option of its choice for the future.
The Bears pick too low in the first round of April’s draft, No. 25 overall, to expect a game-changing edge-rusher to fall to them there. Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN, for instance, predicts that as many as six pass-rushers could come off the board before Chicago goes on the clock. As such, the Bears are far more likely to address the interior of the defensive line at that pick with a top-end tackle.
Some Pass-Rushers in Free Agency Will Prove Expensive, Other Accompanied by Serious Risk
GettyDefensive end Trey Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals.
With the chips not falling the Bears’ way with regards to finding an immediate game-changing edge in the early portion of this year’s draft, free agency and the trade market are the two logical places to turn.
Trey Hendrickson is likely to be available, but after leading the league in sacks with 17.5 of them in 2024, he missed 10 games due to injury last season and will turn 32 in December. Paying him top-of-the-market money is a precarious proposition, at best, for a younger roster on the rise in Chicago.
Word around the league is that the Philadelphia Eagles hope to bring back Jaelan Phillips after trading for his services ahead of last season’s deadline, while other players like the aforementioned Oweh are good options but perhaps fall shy of the splash the Bears’ defense needs to make within a unit that was bottom-five in pass rush win rate and quick pressures last season.
If a trade for Maxx Crosby doesn’t materialize, the Bears are prime candidates to ink Mack to a one-year deal worth around the $18 million the Chargers paid him last season. Mack tallied 11 quarterback hits, six tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and one safety across 12 games played for L.A. in 2025.
The Bears can then re-examine the draft for a rookie star, as well as the free-agent and trade markets in spring 2027 for an option worth paying between $25-$40 million over a four-year contract.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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