In the end, outside linebacker Khalil Mack decided to return to play for the Chargers for another year rather than retire after 11 stellar seasons in the NFL. Mack will re-sign with the Chargers for a fourth season with them, agreeing Monday to a one-year contract worth a fully guaranteed $18 million.
NFL Network and ESPN, citing unnamed sources, first reported the agreement. The Chargers then formally announced the contract later Monday morning.
Mack, who turned 34 last month, considered retirement after the Chargers’ loss in a wild-card game to the Houston Texans on Jan. 11. The Chargers considered Mack an integral part of their roster and general manager Joe Hortiz made it clear he intended to retain the services of the nine-time Pro Bowl selection.
“I love Khalil,” Hortiz said back in January.
At season’s end, Mack made it clear if he were to return to the NFL, it would likely only be with the Chargers.
“As long as Justin Herbert is your quarterback and you’ve got (safety) Derwin James and all these guys that love the game of football, and you’ve got Jim Harbaugh coaching, you know you always have a chance to win,” Mack said during his exit interview with reporters in January.
By re-signing Mack, the Chargers kept him from hitting the open free-agent market on Wednesday. Mack would have been an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his Hall of Fame-caliber career. He spent this past season in the final year of a six-year deal he signed with the Chicago Bears.
The Chargers acquired Mack from the Bears amidst a flurry of deals during the 2022 offseason, igniting talk from pundits of a run to the Super Bowl. The Chargers have reached the playoffs twice in Mack’s tenure, losing in a wild card game to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2022 season and to the Texans last season.
Mack was selected as the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year while with the then-Oakland Raiders in 2016. He has 107.5 sacks during his career, including a career-high 17 during the 2023 season. He slumped to only six sacks this past season, but that could be partly attributed to a midseason groin injury.
Mack sat out a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 17, and played a limited number of snaps for all but one of the final seven regular-season games. He had two sacks and six tackles in the Chargers’ 32-12 loss to the Texans in an AFC wild-card game Jan. 11 at Houston.
CHARGERS CUT EDWARDS
The Chargers said they had released running back Gus Edwards, who they had signed last year to a two-year contract. Edwards was the second player the Chargers released after parting ways with veteran outside linebacker Joey Bosa, their longest-tenured player, last week.
By cutting Edwards and Bosa, the Chargers have more than $93 million in salary cap space going into the start of free agency at 1 p.m. (PDT) on Wednesday. As of Monday, the Chargers had only 45 players on their active roster, which could make for a very busy free agency period.
Edwards played 12 games last season with the Chargers, including six starts, and rushed for 356 yards and four touchdowns.
More to come on this story.