Column: Ryan Pace, It's Time to Get Khalil Mack (No Matter the Cost)

Khalil Mack to the Bears would be perfect for everyone but the Raiders.
Not just because I’m a Bears fan, but I genuinely believe Mack getting traded to Chicago would be good for the league as a whole. You see, each team colors the big picture of the professional game of football with a hue that is unique to them. Some teams have been coloring longer than others, some are more vibrant. In this case, the original creator of the picture hasn’t been good at painting a picture, let alone “coloring” in what feels like forever.
The Bears need Mack, and the NFL needs the Bears to get him. As one of the founding franchises, the Bears have one of the biggest fan bases in the sport. When they aren’t winning, everything attached to them suffers. Ratings, viewership, ticket sales, all diminish to the point where it’s embarrassing to even look at Soldier Field towards the end of the season (the attendance is less than a quarter of the capacity).



Mack would help the Bears in more problematic areas than the ones listed above. He also happens to be a generational talent at the Bears biggest position of need. The list of available names currently at the outside linebacker position for Chicago are Sam Acho, Isaiah Irving, Kylie Fitts, Kasim Edebali and a band of undrafted free agents. Leonard Floyd is injured and will have to play Week 1 with a cast, and Aaron Lynch finally practiced on Wednesday night for the first time since injuring his hamstring on the first day of training camp.

Mack is the best option, period.

He’d turn a budding front seven into an elite group against both the run and pass. He’d allow defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to get creative with blitzes and coverage packages. He’d do what he does best, wreak havoc on the other team’s passer. I can confidently say, Mack could be the difference between a first year of mediocrity and potentially going to the playoffs in Matt Nagy’s inaugural season.
Just say this out loud: the Chicago Bears have a chance to add a Hall of Fame, All-Pro, player in the heat of his prime.
It makes too much sense for this team more than any other; Mack would get traded and sign here immediately. The Bears have the money to pay him, the draft capital to trade for him and the need on the roster for him to be numero uno day one. Almost no asking price is too high, as he is fully justified in asking for north of $20 million annually with 75 percent (or more) of his contract guaranteed.
Who knows what the cost truly is? Who cares what it is (besides Oakland)? It’s asinine that this is even a conversation for them. I’m not mad though, one man’s treasure is more treasure in the hands of someone who values it more.

Quarterback Mitch Trubisky won’t need an extension for two years, and by then, the new NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement should be in place, not to mention the yearly salary cap increases. That means your core is locked in for years before you would even see what your first-round picks would’ve been had you not traded them away to Oakland.
The timeline is right and general manager Ryan Pace has proved to be more aggressive this offseason than any other one under his tenure. If he pulls this off though, playoffs immediately or not, he’d already be one of the best general managers the Bears have ever had, and the Bears would send a shockwave to the entire sports world. They’d easily be able to strike fear into opponents again, much like 1985. They’d be able to say with a straight face and all conviction “the Monsters of the Midway are back.”
Here’s to hoping Pace pulls it off.