CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears went all-in on pursuing a Super Bowl championship when they traded for Khalil Mack four years ago. Now, in new general manager Ryan Poles’ first big move, they are shipping out the edge rusher in the hopes of laying a foundation for the future.
The Bears have agreed to trade Mack, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a second-round draft pick this year and a sixth-rounder in 2023. The deal is contingent on Mack, who underwent left foot surgery after he was placed in injured reserve last season, passing a physical.
Poles has mentioned multiple times that the Bears are short on draft picks as they pay off the remainder of the trade with the New York Giants to move up and draft quarterback Justin Fields last year. He called it the “hand we were dealt” last week at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, where multiple sources hinted the Bears could be looking to move one of the few assets on the roster that could bring a quality return.
Adding the Chargers’ second-round pick (No. 48 overall) gives the Bears three picks in the top 100 of what is considered a deep draft. It’s not good for quarterbacks, and there are more questions than answers for the how the top 10 will shake out, but plenty of good prospects will be available on Day 2 (Rounds 2 and 3) and entering Day 3. The other Bears picks in the top 100 are at No. 39 in Round 2 and No. 71 in Round 3.
Mack, 31, had six sacks through seven games last season before the Bears rested him with the foot injury. When the situation didn’t improve, he was shut down for the season. Although he played in all 16 games in 2020, he battled a variety of injuries that limited him to nine sacks.
Now, Mack will be paired with Joey Bosa playing for Chargers coach Brandon Staley, who was the Bears outside linebackers coach in 2018. The Bears still have Robert Quinn, who is coming off an 18 1/2-sack season, and this potentially could create a larger role for Trevis Gipson, who had seven sacks last year in his second season.
The trade, which cannot become official until the first day of the new league year March 16, saddles the Bears with $24 million in dead cap space for this season. He would have counted for more than $30 million against the cap if he were on the roster.
If Poles doesn’t believe the Bears roster is positioned for a playoff run right away — and it certainly doesn’t look as if it is — the time to trade Mack was now. Paying a player entering his ninth season near the top of scale for pass rushers wouldn’t make a lot of sense for a team entering a transitionary phase.
The Denver Broncos received second- and third-round picks from the Rams for pass rusher Von Miller during the middle of last season. Denver paid down the remainder of Miller’s contract by $9 million. That probably accounts for the difference in compensation as there’s no sign at this point the Bears are eating a portion of Mack’s contract, which calls for him to receive a $5.5 million roster bonus March 18.
Mack was an instant success for the Bears in the 2018 season opener when he had one sack, one interception retuned for a touchdown, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in what was a 24-23 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He went on to have 12 1/2 sacks and six forced fumbles for one of the best defenses in the league, but the Bears were eliminated in the wild-card round by the Philadelphia Eagles.
The defense began to slide in 2019 after the departure of coordinator Vic Fangio, and Mack had 8 1/2 sacks that season. The team banked on investing in Quinn to pair with Mack in 2020, the idea being that one of the fiercest pass rushes in the NFL would restore the defense to greatness. Mack was listed on the injury report with four separate issues that season, and Quinn never got going.
Now, the Chargers hope the combination of Mack and Bosa will elevate them in the rugged AFC West while Poles has a little more draft capital to work with and clears the highest-paid player on the roster from the books.
It will be interesting to see if the Bears dangle more veterans to acquire draft picks in return or stay put. They have a void at pass rusher as they build a new defense under coach Matt Eberflus.
