The 2026 NFL trade deadline came and went without the Khalil Mack move many around the league had been waiting for.
For weeks, Mack had been one of the names most closely tied to a possible deal back to the Chicago Bears. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport said that was the trade he kept circling, too.
“Here's one I was watching not just today, but over the last couple of weeks is Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears. A deal that, you know, I wondered if you asked me at the beginning of this trade season what was the deal most likely to happen this is probably what I would have said,” Rapoport said on Tuesday via The Insiders on NFL Network.
“Here's the reason it didn't. The Chargers never wanted to deal Khalil Mack.
They never got close to dealing Khalil Mack, they wanted him in their locker room, they wanted him to help teach some of the young pass rushers. They want a good culture and he is a great guy and a great leader.”
Chicago’s interest made sense on paper. The Bears were looking for help on the defensive line, and a reunion with Mack would have brought back a familiar face from his peak years in Chicago.
But that path got shut down once the Bears made their Jeffery Simmons move.
“And then for the Chicago Bears, once they did the Jeffery Simmons deal, that was kind of it,” Rapoport added. “That was kind of the only draft pick compensation they were going to give up.”
So the expected Mack deal never got off the ground. The Bears already got a strong first look at Simmons on the defensive front, and Rapoport noted that the team looked incredible in that game.
The Chargers, meanwhile, stayed put with Mack despite sitting at 0-8. Whether they’ll look back and wish they had moved him remains to be seen.
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