Chargers make big admission about Khalil Mack’s future with team

The Los Angeles Chargers could end up losing Khalil Mack in free agency soon.

That became one of the next possible outcomes as soon as the Chargers learned that Mack wouldn’t be retiring. The superstar pass-rusher will return in 2025 and on the open market could command some staggering money, should he choose to leave.

At the scouting combine, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz revealed that the Chargers have had conversations with Mack about an extension—but hedged that comment by admitting that they might not be able to prevent Mack from going to the open market.

Hortiz added: “Khalil has never been a free agent in his life and so it might be something where Khalil wants to just say, ‘Hey, I was a free agent, I did it and I came back to LA.' If it gets to that, that's my hope.”

Considering places like Spotrac estimate that Mack could be looking at nearly $24 million in average annual salary from a team via free agency, it’s hard to know if the Chargers will actually take part in such a bidding war.

Granted, the Chargers could just move on from Joey Bosa and save roughly that much in effective caps space and not impact the otherwise top-five free cap space number.

But Hortiz’s comments about Bosa actually make it sound like that might not happen, either.

Should Mack end up leaving via free agency, the Chargers would throw a big uptick in playing time to Tuli Tuipulotu, possibly keep Bosa and otherwise have a big need to fill on the front seven.

Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack — Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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