The Chargers showed they were ready to go all in prior to the 2022 season as they traded a second-round pick to the Bears in exchange for veteran pass rusher Khalil Mack, who played under Brandon Staley when the latter was Chicago’s outside linebackers coach from 2017-2018.
The move didn’t immediately blow anyone out of the water as Mack was coming off a season cut short to injury but he still posted eight sacks while starting all 17 regular season games.
But this season? The “Mack” has certainly returned.
With his second sack of the day against the Patriots, Mack has now tied his career high of 15 sacks in a single single.
While that’s amazing on it’s own, it should be noted that he set that high mark almost a decade ago in 2015! That was his second season in the NFL!
Talk about fighting back Father Time.
His performance this season might make things tough for the Chargers who must find a way to dig themselves out of a bad cap situation this upcoming offseason.
Does that mean keeping Mack over someone like Joey Bosa? Will they be forced to choose between Keenan Allen or Mike Williams for the future? With all of them set to have a cap hit around or over $20 million in 2024, the writing may be on the wall.
At any rate, Mack is making a phenomenal case to stick around in the powder blues for the near future.
Okoye is one of six Nigerian players to earn allocation to an NFL team this year through the International Player Pathway program, joining Roy Mbaeteka (Chicago Bears), Chukwuebuka Jason Godrick (Kansas City Chiefs), Kenneth Odumegwu (Green Bay Packers), David Ebuka Agoha (Las Vegas Raiders), and Haggai Chisom Ndubuisi (Denver Broncos).
While Okoye remains a long shot to make L.A.’s roster this summer, it’s possible the team will retain him on the practice squad, especially given his determination and performance through training camp thus far.
