The Los Angeles Chargers should do right by Khalil Mack with a trade.
At this point, things are so off the rails for Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers, no matter what the NFL trade rumors say about their status as sellers, that most fans would agree that it’s only right to ship Mack away and give him a shot at a championship with another team.
Mack has still looked fantastic this year amid the chaos of an 0-5 team that looks arguably the worst club outright. It’s not like there’s a silver lining that perhaps next things would be better if Mack comes back yet again, considering this sort of flop demands major changes to the coaching staff, if not front office, too.
Until this point, though, there was a whispered thought that Mack’s contract would prevent the Chargers from doing a deal.
And that’s just not the case.
Khalil Mack, contract update
Details have usually been scarce about Mack’s recent contracts with the Chargers. He kept re-upping annually at one year and $18 million, but little pesky details like no-trade clauses never really went public.
Until now, courtesy of The Athletic’s Noah Furtado: “Mack does not have a no-trade clause in his one-year, $18 million deal, The Athletic learned, despite multiple reports in recent weeks stating he does.”
So, that’s one little hurdle the Chargers won’t have to worry about. And there wasn’t a major concern that the organization would betray Mack and ship him to another dumpster fire like the 0-5 Tennessee Titans. But the lack of a no-trade clause gives the Chargers leverage if they decide to move him and, say, choose one much higher offer from a team over another.
There’s really no sense in hanging on at this point. The Chargers already tied their long-term future on the edge to first-round pick Akheem Mesidor and Tuli Tuipulotu, who needs a contract extension.
Sure, it stinks, but the Chargers shipping away Mack and fans getting to see him at least contend for a title would be a small victory. A reunion with the Chicago Bears is obviously the most popular idea right now. That’s just where this season has landed and, if nothing else, there won’t be any contract details in the way of a trade happening soon.
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