The Los Angeles Chargers are not a team known for pulling off blockbuster trades, but in the spring of 2022, the team took a shot at landing one of the best pass-rushers of the last decade.
All trades need time to determine whether it was a good move or not. Some trades provide good results initially but fail to bear fruit down the road. Bill Barnwell of ESPN chose to look at several trades that happened within the last few years around the league and set his sights on the Chargers' trade with the Chicago Bears that brought over Khalil Mack.
Though Mack is sidelined currently following a dislocated elbow suffered in Week 2, the team clearly won this trade in the eyes of Barnwell. Initially, the Chargers traded a second-round pick in 2022 and a sixth-round pick in 2023 in exchange for Mack. But Chicago general manager Ryan Poles traded one of those picks back to the Chargers for additional selections.
The full trade looks like this:
Chargers receive: Edge Khalil Mack
Bears receive: S Jaquan Brisker, S Elijah Hicks, P Trenton Gill
Here was Barnwell's full analysis on the deal:
"At the time: A Bears team that was retooling under new general manager Ryan Poles wanted to clear out cash and cap space. Mack was entering his age-31 season and was owed $17.8 million in 2022, a concern given that the former Defensive Player of the Year had been limited to seven games in 2021 by a foot injury. The Chargers wanted a second pass rusher next to star Joey Bosa and clearly preferred Mack to pending free agent Uchenna Nwosu, who left in free agency for the Seahawks.
What happened:
Mack rounded back into form, making the Pro Bowl in each of the next three seasons. The 2024 nod might have been a little generous, but in 2023, Mack racked up 17 sacks and 21 tackles for loss, earning him deserved down-ballot Defensive Player of the Year attention. He is currently sidelined by an elbow injury , but Mack had missed just one game in his first three years with the Chargers. He has been healthy and productive.
The Bears used the second-round pick to land a talented safety in Brisker, but the player out of Penn State has battled concussions and missed 16 games over his first three years with Chicago. Poles traded the sixth-round pick back to the Chargers, who used it on H-back Scott Matlock , while the Bears landed a depth safety in Hicks and their punter between 2022 and 2023 in Gill. The bigger issue for Poles has been replacing Mack up front. In the autumn of 2023, the Bears sent a second-round pick to the Commanders for Montez Sweat in a deal we'll cover shortly, giving him a massive contract in the process. When Sweat wasn't single-handedly able to create pressure, Poles gave Dayo Odeyingbo a three-year, $48 million contract in free agency. The jury is still out, but the Bears rank 28th in pressure rate this season. It certainly seems like they would have been better off just holding onto Mack.
In hindsight: Clear win for the Chargers."
The leadership Mack has brought to the defense in L.A. has been significant. The Chargers chose to move on from Joey Bosa this past offseason, favoring re-signing Mack. Initially, it looked like his elbow injury could keep him out a significant amount of time, but he should be back soon, ready to add to the 32 sacks he's racked up in a Chargers uniform.
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