Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Khalil Mack is signed through the 2024 season. However, he has a salary-cap hit of over $27 million in 2023, leading many to believe the Chargers may be looking to part ways with the talented linebacker.
The Chargers are currently set to be $20.4 million above the $224.8 million salary-cap limit, per OverTheCap.com, so they must find ways to clear some money. Parting ways with Mack would do that.
General manager John Lynch admitted that the
San Francisco 49ers aggressively pursued Mack in 2018, before the Raiders traded him to the Chicago Bears. Mack made the Pro Bowl this past season, his seventh career selection. Could San Francisco look to add the talented pass rusher, pairing him with the NFL Defensive Player of the Year,
Nick Bosa?
"Absolutely," Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area said Friday on KNBR.
Of course, everything depends on what the Chargers do. Would they trade or release Mack to clear salary-cap space? If it's the former, the 49ers probably don't have the capital to add the veteran pass rusher.
Lynch was recently asked if the 49ers' aggressiveness in the trade market in the past couple of years might contribute to other teams inquiring about trades for their players.
"
Probably," Lynch told NBC Sports Bay Area at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, "but I tell them, 'I don't have anything else.' You're calling the wrong dude. Call me in a couple of years when we re-stock."
While San Francisco is expected to own 10 picks in next month's draft, the team lacks a selection in the first two rounds. In 2021, the 49ers traded a haul of draft capital to trade up in the draft to select quarterback
Trey Lance. This past season, they traded a lot to add running back
Christian McCaffrey.
Regarding Mack, Maiocco says anything is possible. However, he didn't hear anything this week in Indianapolis linking the 49ers to the defender.
"There wasn't much talk of that, anybody I talked to in Indy," Maiocco shared. "But I don't expect the 49ers to add a big-name, high-priced guy. But if they see an opportunity to get somebody, and there's a way to structure a deal that it doesn't crush them, then yeah, they will, definitely.
"Any guy that they like, any guy that Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch are like, 'Man, this guy would be a big-time boost to this team,' they'll look into it. I don't think they have much in the way they'll offer for trade."
If Mack is released, the 49ers can at least consider the possibility. Of course, that would still require some creative work from their chief contract negotiator and EVP of football operations.
"If anyone can do it, Paraag [Marathe] can," Maiocco said.
Maybe the Chargers will find a way to restructure Mack's contract and a few others to get some salary-cap relief in 2023. If that happens, none of this matters. But it's certainly an interesting topic as rumors continue to swirl in Indianapolis.
Mack racked up six-or-more sacks in each of his last eight NFL seasons. He reached opposing quarterbacks eight times in 2022.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Maiocco below.
It's premature to draw conclusions about a quarterback based on practices in May. That is especially true when you do so based on one practice. The San Francisco 49ers started organized team activities (OTAs) this week, and all eyes were on Trey Lance and Sam Darnold.
The two players are battling for that QB2 job behind last season's rookie sensation, Brock Purdy. One could even start Week 1 if Purdy is not healthy enough to do so himself.
Lance is coming off a season-ending ankle injury but looks completely healthy now. Darnold is trying to turn his career around after never living up to his high draft status.
Matt Barrows of The Athletic was on hand for Tuesday's practice, the only one open to reporters so far, and one that Barrows describes as a
Everyone is trying to predict the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback when the team takes the field during Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Will it be Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, or Sam Darnold?
Purdy started some light throwing this week while under some careful supervision. He is nearly three months removed from the surgery to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, an injury suffered during the NFC Championship Game.
Purdy's workload will ramp up, and the 49ers remain hopeful that he can begin throwing normally before the start of the regular season—maybe even sometime during training camp. The second-year quarterback hasn't had any setbacks, so that is certainly
ESPN's Jeff Darlington recently appeared on the network's NFL Live show and discussed the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback situation, highlighting Trey Lance's healthy state and current workload during organized team activities (OTAs).
"Trey Lance is the guy during OTAs who's been taking all the 1st-team reps; he's healthy at this point," Darlington said, per Dov Kleiman of BroBible. "Sam Darnold really getting backup duty as he kinda gets his playbook under his belt. But for now, Trey Lance getting his opportunity with those first-team reps."
What is the takeaway from these comments? Nothing, really. We
A somewhat bigger-than-necessary deal was made last week when reporters saw San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance taking the first-team reps in the first practice of organized team activities (OTAs) open to reporters.
After the practice, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked what, if anything, could be concluded from that.
"It'll even out," Shanahan assured reporters. "We'll make sure to get that right."
The coach made a point to add, "And the first-team is kind of funny because there's no [offensive] line out there. Most of our receivers are second- and third-team on the first-team today, so I'm curious what everyone thinks first- and second- and third-team is."
The 49ers also made Wednesday's practice open to reporters as the team
