Four weeks into the NFL season and heading into an early bye week, the Kansas City Chiefs can’t lose. Unfortunately, they can’t sack an opposing quarterback either.
Kansas City’s defense opened the season with a fury, holding the Denver Broncos to 10 points and tallying four sacks as a unit. In the three games since, the Chiefs have not logged a single sack.
The team remains undefeated on the strength of a top-three offense powered by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and new running back Kenneth Walker III, who leads the league in rushing heading into Week 5. But the defensive front must create more QB pressures for the dominance to continue.
Kansas City is currently in its bye week, after which it will return to action against the winless Los Angeles Chargers (0-4) at Arrowhead Stadium on October 18.
And while it may not make sense for the Chargers to start selling veteran players on sizable contracts just yet, particularly to a division rival like the Chiefs, it appears inevitable that L.A. will begin a fire sale at some point before the trade deadline (November 10) — likely sooner than later.
In that hypothetical, yet probable, context, the Chiefs are a strong match for $18 million Chargers pass-rusher Khalil Mack.
Chargers OLB Khalil Mack Sensible Trade Target in Weeks to Come
Mack, 35, got his start terrorizing Kansas City quarterbacks as a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, then of Oakland, in 2014.
He became a first-team All-Pro during his second campaign and won Defensive Player of the Year honors the following season. Mack is now in his fifth year with the Chargers but will be a free agent next March.
The Chargers don’t appear close to competing through four weeks. And given Mack’s age and salary, he makes perfect sense as a trade candidate. It’s also fair to assume that this kind of season was not what Mack signed up for when deciding to play his 13th year.
Chiefs Have Spent Meaningful Salary Cap Space, Draft Assets on Pass Rush Over Past Few Years
Meanwhile, the Chiefs recently extended defensive end George Karlaftis and spent significant draft capital on edge-rusher R Mason Thomas (second-round rookie) and defensive tackle Peter Woods (first-round rookie) with the intention of immediately bolstering the pass rush on both the inside and the outside of the defensive line.
But since Week 1, that hasn’t happened. Kansas City is in a three-way tie for 29th league-wide with just four sacks. The only team worse is the New York Giants with three.
If Kansas City were to acquire Mack ahead of Week 5, which won’t happen at this point, he would cost the team just over $6.2 million in 2026. If that happens two or three weeks from now, the cost will be even less.
“Trading ED Khalil Mack. New Team Acquires 2026: $6.22M (Week 5+). #Chargers Dead Cap 2026: $11.78M,” the Spotrac X account posted Monday. “Mack has 3 sacks & 14 tackles thru 4 games this season, after posting 5.5 sacks/32 tackles in LA last year.”
Mack could be in demand around the league, but a one-year rental for a player of his age will limit the total number of suitors and should cap his trade return at around a fifth-round pick. That makes plenty of sense for Kansas City, which did everything it could this offseason in the name of contending.
The Chiefs are doing a damn good job of that so far as the last undefeated team in the AFC, and adding Mack is a reasonable and affordable solution to one of the team’s most serious problems.
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