At 0-4, the Los Angeles Chargers are now, for all intents and purposes, eliminated from playoff contention.
Not mathematically, sure. But this team hasn't shown enough on either side of the ball (and especially on offense) to believe there's a miraculous turnaround waiting somewhere in the wings. They may be able to pick up a spare win or two before their schedule relaxes in Week 11, but in the meantime, the hole they've already dug for themselves will only continue to get deeper.
This isn't a rebuilding team. But it is a team that, in Year 3 under Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz, can't allow a season to simply go to waste. They need to move on from their immanently tradeable assets between now and the deadline, and in that light, Khalil Mack seems like a sure-fire candidate.
Adam Schefter at ESPN suggested as much over the weekend, but even without that sort of insider take, it's easy to see the reasoning here. Mack signed another one-year deal with Los Angeles, even at age 35, because he thought the organization could provide him with one last shot at a Super Bowl.
If the Chargers can give him that while earning an extra mid-round pick in the process, that's a no-brainer move. Mack has a full no-trade clause, though, which needs to be waived in order for a deal to take place. Here are three potential partners who could make that type of deal work for all three parties.
3 potential destinations for Khalil Mack as a trade becomes a real possibility
1. Chicago Bears
It seems like the Bears are perenially in need of pass-rush help, and a reunion for Mack—who spent four seasons with Chicago before coming to Los Angeles—could make sense here.
Granted, the Bears do have the third-highest pressure rate in the league through four weeks, and the pass-rush corps they currently have intact has been holding their own relatively well. Dayo Odeyingbo has posted three sacks and 12 total pressures, while Montez Sweat has posted similar numbers. The need isn't as dire as it might have been made out to be this offseason in Chicago, but there's certainly some room for variance across the whole of the Bears defense—not just the edge rusher room.
Adding someone like Mack into the picture would, at the very least, give them another consistent defender in their ranks.
2. San Francisco 49ers
The Chargers and 49ers might share the title for the most injury-prone team in all of football (although there are likely a number of fanbases that would object to this statement). Nick Bosa has missed the last two games for San Francisco, and he's still without a sack on the year. Mykel Williams remains on the PUP list as he rehabs the torn ACL he suffered last season.
They have some solid rotational options (like rookie Romello Height). But this offense is certainly legitimate enough to compete for a Super Bowl, and they're simply going to need some reinforcements (either internal or external) on the defensive side of the ball if they're going to reach that summit. Mack could provide not only a primary edge rusher as Williams works his way back but also a consistent run-defending presence off the edge. It would be an intriguing fit, at the very least.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars may be the least obvious destination of these three, considering they already have Travon Walker and Joshua Hines-Allen in the fold at edge rusher. But any team looking to compete for a Super Bowl needs as many viable pass rushers as their roster can handle, and Jacksonville certainly seems to be in that category through four weeks.
Even with those two players in the fold, Jacksonville is still in the middle of the pack in terms of sack totals and pressure rate. Adding a bona fide third edge rusher like Mack would allow Anthony Campanile to push Travon Walker to the inside on occasion, working all three of these monstrous athletic specimens off of each other on a routine basis.
This is less of a need-based move than one of luxury. But if you're fully in on this Jaguars defense as potentially a top unit, a Mack move makes perfect sense here.
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