Bear Digest

NFL insider ties Khalil Mack to Bears with mention of cash total

Khalil Mack and the Bears are becoming more of a thing in NFL pre-free agency talk and one bit of connected speculation links the two with a dollar figure possibility.
Gene Chamberlain|
Khalil Mack prepares to enter against Carolina in a Bears game during his first Chicago run. Will there be a second one?
Khalil Mack prepares to enter against Carolina in a Bears game during his first Chicago run. Will there be a second one? | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The momentum for the Khalil Mack reunion tour with the Bears continues to build right through the word late Saturday that the Washington Commanders might be interested in him.

This time, there's even a ballpark figure mentioned and there's also a bit of a red flag attached because of another transaction in the edge market.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer started putting faces with teams in his Sunday column and found the Mack fit for the Bears on the edge at 34 years old.

Breer mentioned "there's a thought" that free agent edge Joey Bosa could get about $15 million on a one-year contract from either the 49ers, Commanders, Saints or Patriots.

Then Breer wrote: "The Chargers would like to retain his bookend Khalil Mack, but the cost will probably be similar to Bosa's, and the Chicago Bears might look to bring him back."

If the Bears are able to get Mack in the vicinity of $15 million for a year or as an average for two years, a lot of fans in Chicago who invested in No. 52 jerseys from 2018-21 and were disappointed they couldn't wear them anymore will suddenly become happy again.

Even with the need to find a center in free agency, a deal like that for Mack would be a great bargain for the Bears.

The problem with this figure for the Bears is the Chargers could actually afford that much or even more better than the Bears can. The Chargers have $83.29 million in effective cap space available and the Bears $40.09 million according to Overthecap.com.

The warning coming with anyone signing Mack is 34 years old. While Mack had 17 sacks just two years ago, he had only six last year and then there is the transaction announcement that came down on Sunday.

Buffalo is releasing Von Miller. OTC's Jason Fitzgerald reported the Bills wound up paying $47.2 million over three years from a six-year, $120 million deal Miller signed before the 2022 season.

That $47.2 million for three years is roughly the kind of number being mentioned for Mack, and Miller was actually a year younger than Mack is now when he signed with Buffalo. They got only 14 sacks from Miller in his three seasons and he missed 15 games.

When you're signing older pass rushers, it can be a tricky situation and the costs are impactful. It's let the buyer beware.

The Bears better know what they're doing and signing a veteran like Mack should come with the understanding they'll be drafting someone else on the edge within the first few rounds, as well.

They have to find another one, because they're down two free agents and also the edge they cut, DeMarcus Walker.

Regardless, Mack hadn't appeared to have lost much of anything over is Chargers seasons, with three straight Pro Bowls and nine overall, and 31 sacks in three years there.

More importantly perhaps, he had 58 pressures the last two seasons according to Pro Football Reference/Stathead and 76 for his three Chargers seasons. That is a lower rate than he had when he first arrived in Chicago and had 92 for his first two seasons, but not much different or even better than when he was fighting through injuries with the Bears and had 31 and then nine pressures his last wo Bears seasons.

He played in over 80% of snaps in his first two years after leaving Chicago and when he had that cut back to 61% last year while missing a game with an injury he still had a good number of plays at 616 total.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.