The Los Angeles Chargers exceeded everyone's expectations last season, reaching the playoffs as a Wild Card team in the first season under Jim Harbaugh. 2024 was supposed to be a rebuild year in Los Angeles, but now the team's timeline is accelerated.

This offseason, the Chargers will be completely focused on building the rest of the roster around Justin Herbert to put together a team that can compete for a championship next season. One of their key free agents that they will try to retain is pass rusher Khalil Mack, who is out of his prime but can still be a productive player on the edge.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Chargers general manager Joe Horitz spoke with Ian Rapoport of NFL Network about the urgency to keep Mack in Los Angeles.

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“We want Khalil to play for us,” Horitz said. “Him and I have had some conversations, we’ve talked to his representation, and pounding away at that. Hopefully we can get something done. In terms of Khalil, love him. I've had the opportunity to be around lots of great players over my years and I tell the story all the time. He is what you want to show young scouts what a great pro is.”

Mack still made his ninth Pro Bowl in 2024, but he had a down season statistically. He finished with six sacks and six tackles for loss but was still impactful from a pressures standpoint. If the Chargers do give him a new deal, they will be hoping that he can get back to his 2023 form that saw him rack up 17 sacks.

Despite Mack's statistical drop, the Chargers still had one of the best defenses in the NFL under new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Despite playing a lot of late-round draft picks and free agent fliers at key positions, Minter had that unit shutting down even the best offenses in the NFL.

If the Chargers want to continue doing that next season, bringing back Mack is a top priority for the team.