The Chicago Bears, coming off a win over the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football in Week 7, are looking very likely to be trade deadline buyers this season.

With a strong 5-2 record that leads the NFC North, Ryan Poles has reason to try to upgrade this team for a Super Bowl push. But what kind of upgrades could this team look to add? Defense has one very obvious need to address: an edge rusher.

ESPN's Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter recently reported that the Bears are expected to have interest in an edge rusher, specifically being one of the teams interested in acquiring Los Angeles Chargers Pro Bowl, 116-sack edge rusher Khalil Mack this season.

Bears expected to have trade interest in Khalil Mack

"There is expected to be interest in Mack from teams such as the Chicago Bears, but the Los Angeles Chargers have given no indication they are willing to make any trades at this time," Schefter and Rapoport report.

While that last part of the report from these NFL insiders might be worrying, the Chargers are surely going to change their minds on that stance in the near future.

Jim Harbaugh's team is currently 0-6 this season, and there's not a lot of hope for this Chargers team to turn things around with such a poor record.

Justin Herbert is playing very poorly; the team has a plethora of injury issues weighing them down, and their schedule doesn't really get a whole lot easier either.

With the Chargers likely to sell, Mack, likely playing in his final NFL season, would make perfect sense as a trade target for the Bears.

MORE: Why Colts are likely sellers after firing Chris Ballard before NFL trade deadline

He's still a good edge rusher, and shouldn't be too costly as a 35-year-old veteran signed only for the rest of the 2026 season. A mid-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft is probably enough to land Mack this season.

While the Chargers might be telling teams they're not trading him right now, that stance will likely change soon, and assuming it does, the Bears will likely be ready to express interest in acquiring Mack this season.

The potential future Hall of Famer has 3.0 sacks in six games this season, now sitting at 116 sacks for his career, only four away from the 120-sack milestone.

After spending four seasons with the Bears earlier in his career, a reunion with the team would make for a perfect ending to his NFL career, as a Super Bowl championship could be in play if he's dealt to the Bears this November.

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