After another embarrassing loss on Sunday, the Los Angeles Chargers are seemingly pretending that everything is fine. Despite an 0-7 start, head coach Jim Harbaugh said that Mike McDaniel will not be let go and the Chargers are reportedly not planning to trade Khalil Mack or any of their more obvious trade chips despite the season clearly already being lost.
This is foolish for a lot of reasons. First off, it is time for the Chargers to simply accept reality. The season is done and the sooner the Chargers acknowledge that with their actions the easier it will be. Particularly when it comes to Mack, there is really no point for the Chargers to hold onto him. He is 35 years old and will be a free agent following the 2026 season so he is the most obvious trade chip of all.
They likely won’t get a massive haul for him, but even getting a third or fourth-round pick in exchange for a guy who is likely going to depart in free agency, or potentially even retire, after the season is just a total common sense move.
By holding onto him the Chargers are inviting the possibility that he gets hurt which would instantly kill his trade value. Not only that, teams in need of edge rusher help may turn to other options which means that instead of the Chargers having leverage, if other teams have already addressed their needs then the Chargers may be desperate to offload Mack and will get a lower draft pick in exchange for him.
There really isn’t any rationale for the Chargers to keep him. Maybe they are just putting on a public face for negotiating purposes and the thinking is that by playing hard to get that will force teams out there to offer more to try to get Los Angeles to play ball, but that is just a risky strategy that has the potential to backfire.
Chargers should take a page out of the book of the Colts
The Chargers should take a look at what the Indianapolis Colts have done by trading away Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner. They identified their best trade chips, found trade partners, and pulled the trigger. The Chargers should show similar initiative ahead of the trade deadline.
It would be one thing if the Chargers were 2-5 and maybe had an outside chance of going on a run and snagging a playoff spot, but they genuinely have no hope to make the playoffs so there is no real advantage to holding on to Mack which is why they are playing with fire.
Chargers Are Playing With Fire By Refusing To Trade Khalil Mack