Khalil Mack will not, in fact, test the market. The decorated edge rusher is set to remain in place for the Chargers for 2025.
Mack has agreed to a one-year deal to stay in Los Angeles, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The pact is worth $18MM and is guaranteed in full. The team’s preference was to keep Mack for 2025 at a minimum, and that will indeed be the case. The Bears and Buccaneers were mentioned as Mack suitors. While a return to Chicago would have been interesting since Ryan Poles traded him weeks into his GM gig, the Chargers will keep the decorated edge rusher off the market.
This represented Mack’s first time being set for free agency, and he did not quite make it to the market. The Bolts gave both Mack and Joey Bosa pay cuts a year ago but have now split up that three-year duo, keeping the older of the two players. While Mack is going into his age-34 season, he has stayed healthy since being traded to L.A.
Two of Mack’s three Chargers seasons did not feature tremendous statistical work, but the 2023 season sure did. Mack sandwiched one of his best seasons between two reasonably productive slates, totaling 14 sacks between the 2022 and ’24 seasons and 17 in 2023. The former Defensive Player of the Year also forced five fumbles in 2023. Granted, six of those came against the Raiders during Aidan O’Connell‘s debut, but Mack missed only one game during his three previous Bolts seasons. More reliable than the 29-year-old Bosa, Mack will be asked to keep going with Jim Harbaugh‘s team.
On the Hall of Fame radar, Mack will move forward with a Chargers team still rostering Bud Dupree and Tuli Tuipulotu. While Bosa’s exit may still create a depth need — at the very least — Mack sticking around will minimize the Bolts’ issue at OLB. This latest Chargers agreement can move Mack closer to the Hall of Fame. His 107.5 career sacks are 32nd in the sack era (1982-present); the former Raiders and Bears All-Pro could move into the top 25 with a seven-sack season.
Mack was tied to his six-year Bears-built extension from 2018-24. While he may have missed out on high-end edge rusher money, the 2014 first-round pick did well to remain on that deal and collect more than $140MM. The Buffalo alum may slide further into the situational-rusher setup, as his snap share declined from 81% in 2023 to 61% in 2024. The Bolts will attempt to keep Mack fresh, and moving on from Bosa certainly illustrates how highly they view the 11-year veteran moving forward.