Chargers Owe It To Khalil Mack to Make Trade Calls With Teams Like 49ers, Bills

The Chargers are close to hosting a fire sale and the first priority should be doing right by Khalil Mack.

Khalil Mack | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If the Los Angeles Chargers want to do it, a Khalil Mack trade will interest plenty of teams. 

Granted, both the Chargers and Mack would need to want a trade to happen. But at 0-4 with questions around Jim Harbaugh’s tenure starting to become louder, it’s also worth considering if the Chargers won’t start up a fire sale, too. 

After all, if this season is lost, why retain an asset like Mack who might not be around next year and part of a possible rebuild, anyway? 

And, on a very basic human level, why not do right by Mack and ship him somewhere that gives him a chance to win a title to close what could be his final year as a pro?

Chargers should call 49ers, Bills for Khalil Mack trade 

Khalil Mack | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mack contemplated retirement before signing a one-year deal worth $18 million with the Chargers to come back for 2026. 

Things haven’t worked out as either party planned. And maybe Mack doesn’t want to be on the move again at the age of 35 now that he’s been with the Chargers since 2022. 

But the grass just might be greener. And he certainly has something to offer teams in the hunt. He’s got three sacks and eight quarterback pressures over the four games already. There’s a reason Mack is the very top trade block option in the mind of someone like Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox going into Week 5. 

In the AFC, the Chargers could call up, say, the Buffalo Bills. That’s a contender at 3-1 and first place in the AFC East surely more than happy to keep stacking advantages. Mack has quite a bit more to offer the Bills than say, Joey Bosa gave them last year. 

If the Chargers don’t want to help an AFC team, they could always look to the NFC and call up a team like the San Francisco 49ers. 

Funnily enough, those 49ers have a Bosa and injury woes, too. But they’re also 4-0 and trying to stay ahead in a brutal NFC West. For Mack, sticking on the West Coast might just have some appeal, too. 

Minimal cap savings aside, a Mack trade wouldn’t just be doing right by him, either. It would also let the Chargers think about the future while getting Tuli Tuipulotu and first-round pick Akheem Mesidor as many reps as possible. 

And at this point, Chargers fans would no doubt understand the move and pretty much agree with it, too.

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