Would it make sense for the Chicago Bears to trade Khalil Mack?
The Chicago Bears and fans are both standing at a crossroad right now. One road leads to a wildcard playoff matchup and the other path veers off towards free agency. The final three games of the season against Minnesota, Jacksonville and Green Bay could decide the futures of certain players, coaches and members of the front office.
Khalil Mack might be one of those players and it’s at no fault of his own. The former 5th overall pick from the 2014 draft is fresh off his most productive performance in weeks after facing off against the Houston Texans where he totalled two tackles, one pass deflection, one sack, one safety and a forced fumble and the recovery.
Mack is signed with the Bears through the 2024 season, which at that point in his career he’d become a 34-year-old free agent, but once an organization starts struggling people begin speculating. Unfortunately, Mack has had his name tossed into the trade ring and it’s time to discuss which teams would be interested from a realistic perspective.
There are more Bears fans that would probably prefer keeping Mack in a Bears uniform rather than trading him away. He remains one of the most dominant pass rushers in the game, and for a while it was between him and Aaron Donald at the top of many lists, but nobody is calling for change in Los Angeles when the Rams sit atop the NFC West at 9-7.
If there are changes in Chicago’s front office during the offseason then who knows what decisions could be made. Looking back, the Bears traded away their 2019 and 2020 first-round picks, a sixth-round pick in 2019, and a third-round pick in 2020 to acquire Mack when the Raiders played in Oakland. Fans enjoyed a short-lived playoff berth in 2018 when the Bears lost in the wildcard round and nothing much since then.
Let’s begin with the most popular team being thrown around lately.