Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Khalil Mack will return to the NFL in 2025. Following the LA Chargers' season-ending loss to the Houston Texans, Mack said he would deliberate his future in the league with his family. However, Mack also admitted that the playoff loss was not how he wanted to end his career.
"I don't want to go out with a loss based on who I am," Mack said. "I definitely want to make that push and play some important games in the playoffs."
Unlike last offseason where Mack reworked his contract to stay in Los Angeles, he's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent. It will be the first time in Mack's career that he's had the option to enter unrestricted free agency. After two high-profile trades plus contract extensions and reworkings, Mack has never had an opportunity to explore the free-agent market.
This isn't Mack's first rodeo in which he contemplated retirement prior to opting for a return. After the Jacksonville playoff game in the 2022-23 postseason, he had reportedly considered it. Mack came back in 2023 to have one of the best seasons of his career with 17 sacks and 88 pressures. 88 pressures was the second most of any season of his career, only behind his 2016 DPOY campaign with the Raiders (98).
Chargers must make it a priority to re-sign Khalil Mack
Of course, there's no guarantee Mack is back with the Chargers if he is allowed to test the market. But both Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz gave ringing endorsements to the idea of bringing back Mack at their end-of-season press conference. When asked about Derwin James saying he was recruiting Mack to come back, Harbaugh said, "Add me to that group. And Joe (Hortiz)."
The Chargers also will have to figure out Joey Bosa's future after reworking his deal last season. Bosa enters the 2025 offseason with a cap hit currently listed at $36.5 million. The Chargers could save a net of about $25 million in cap space with the release of their veteran edge rusher considering his $11 million dead cap hit.
Are the futures of Bosa and Mack linked? Could Bosa run it back at a reworked contract if Mack returns? Right now, it's hard to say.
Currently, the Chargers' EDGE room is composed of Mack, Bosa, Tuli Tuipulotu, and Bud Dupree. Dupree and Tuipulotu are both on relatively cheap contracts for next season. Mack is currently the only on roster solution to giving the Chargers premium EDGE rusher production without the assumption of say a production jump from Tuipulotu next year.
Mack still had a highly productive 2024, even if it didn't reach the statistical heights of his 2023 campaign. The veteran was still able to put up six sacks, 52 pressures, and 26 run stops. He battled through a groin injury that he called "unique" during the season.
Regardless of what the Chargers opt to do in the NFL Draft, one has to imagine that figuring out how to bring Mack back is near the top of the priorities list for LA when the new league year opens in March.