Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune has 10 thoughts this week:
Bears fans have romanticized [Khalil] Mack’s four-year tenure in Chicago a little bit. The team was 29-26 in the 55 games he played in, postseason included. Mack was fantastic in his first season in 2018. He had a sack and an interception return for a touchdown in the season opener and totaled five sacks in the first four games. He was every bit the elite player former GM Ryan Pace figured he was getting, a dynamic chess piece for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
Instances of Mack taking over games faded the next two seasons, and a foot injury ended his 2021 season after four games. When Poles came in, the Bears had a tight salary-cap situation, and trading Mack to the Chargers was one of the first moves he made. The only way you can say the Bears won the 2018 trade for Mack is to say the Raiders blew the draft picks they received in the deal.
This is my impression as well. Many fans and even some media members have remembered Mack’s time with the Bears as being more productive than it actually was.
I wouldn’t be opposed to the Bears acquiring Mack but they have to be careful to not over pay. I have heard suggestions from members of the media that a fourth round pick might be the price. I think that’s too much for a 35-year-old defensive lineman on the tail end of his career.
Don’t think that Mack is going to come in here and dominate the way that he did for half a season in 2018. That was 8 years ago. It would be a lot better if Montez Sweat or Austin Booker or, even better, second round draft pick Shemar Turner showed up and picked up the pass rush.