What players do or say after a season-ending playoff loss, with frustration still fresh, can be taken wrong. Older players may call their future into question, and that's just what Khalil Mack did after the Los Angeles Chargers' Wild Card Round loss to the Houston Texans.
First there was Mack's actions on the field after the loss to Houston. Then came his comments on Sunday, via Kris Rhim of ESPN.
"Man, it's a lot of different thoughts in my head right now," Mack said. "I can't really speak on a definitive decision in terms of what I'm going to do because I don't know if I'm going to play football moving forward, so there's some things I got to talk through with my wife, spend some time with my kids and try not to make a rash decision after a loss."
The 33-year old Mack will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his 11-year career this offseason. The 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro with 107.5 career sacks (seventh-most among active players) is 0-for-5 in the playoffs during his career.
Mack did say he thought his best chance to win would be back with the Chargers, and he doesn't have a timeline for when he'll make a decision about his future. How he acknowledged not making a rash decision after a loss softens the idea he'll retire, and he should keep his options beyond the Chargers open.
Lions can help Khalil Mack complete his career resume
Last offseason, within the frame of a bold trade, Mack could have been made to make some sense for the Lions. Of course that was probably never really on the table, and once he decided to take a pay cut to stay with the Chargers it wasn't happening.
Mack dropped from 17 sacks in 2023 to just six sacks this season (he had two sacks in the loss to the Texans). He is not what he was when he was one of the premier pass rushers in the league, but he was still top-30 in quarterback pressures (52, according to Pro Football Focus) and top-25 in overall pass rush win rate among edge rushers with at least 200 pass rush snaps this season.
At this point, if he continues his career, Mack would be chasing team success over individual success and a situation that could get him a Super Bowl ring over any idea of a last big pay day with $169.5 million in career on-field earnings.
There are a lot of 'ifs' involved. If Mack wants to continue playing. If he's willing to play for someone other than the Chargers, and what he'd be looking for contractually.
However, the Lions check the boxes that would make them appealing to Mack if he wants to play a 12th season. He seems like a fit for them too, as a veteran edge rusher who's still plenty capable along with looking like he'd be a culture fit.
Let's put Mack-to-the Lions this offseason in the "non-zero percent chance it happens" category. It's definitely more likely now that it was last offseason, as highly hypothetical and incredibly fleeting as it was then.
