Will Khalil Mack reunite with the Chicago Bears in 2025 NFL free agency?

As the 2025 NFL free agency period approaches, the Chicago Bears’ list of needs is obvious. General manager Ryan Poles will focus heavily on the trenches, with the offensive line topping the list. But enhancing the pass rush ranks a close second, and this year’s crop of free agents includes a familiar name who Bears fans would welcome back with open arms.

Khalil Mack.

While a reunion with Mack seems like a long shot, rumors from the 2025 NFL Combine suggest otherwise.

According to 670 The Score’s Chris Emma, Mack returning to Chicago can’t be ruled out.

“Sources believe Mack has interest in a return to Chicago, where he played from 2018-’21,” Emma wrote. “Mack isn’t interested in the spotlight, but the vision would be for him to be a complementary piece of the defense, not the star.”

Khalil Mack is exactly what the Chicago Bears need

Even at an advanced age (34), Mack still has plenty of juice left to provide the Bears’ defense with the kind of pass rush it was sorely missing in 2024. Chicago was led by Montez Sweat’s 5.5 sacks, a total that Mack surpassed in 2024; he had six sacks.

Mack was remarkable in 2023, totaling a career-high 17 sacks in his second season with the Los Angeles Chargers.

As he enters his 12th season, Mack can realistically be expected to produce between six and eight sacks in 2025, regardless of where he plays. In Chicago, a sack total like that would be a strong complement alongside Sweat. With Mack drawing attention from opposing offensive lines, Sweat would have a clearer path to double-digit sacks, and the Bears would have one of the NFC North’s scarier pass-rush tandems.

The Bears’ biggest obstacle to signing Khalil Mack is the cost. , Mack will command a contract that pays $23.6 million per season. That’s a lot of money for a player entering Year 12, and who’s only had one season with more than 10 sacks in the last six years.

Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and the Bears are in the beggars category.

Chicago’s depth chart doesn’t have a defensive end besides Sweat worth noting at the start of free agency. Austin Booker, a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, will likely make the Bears’ roster, but that’s it. DeMarcus Walker was released, and Darrell Taylor is an unrestricted free agent.

So, yeah, Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears makes sense, as long as the dollars do, too.