The Los Angeles Chargers are keeping their pass rush duo together despite massive cap figures entering 2024.
Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack have agreed to restructured contracts, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday, per sources informed of the situation.
Bosa took a pay cut from $22 million to $15 million but got his salary fully guaranteed and can still earn back $4 million through sack incentives, while Mack had his salary reduced from $23.25 million to $19 million and cannot be franchise tagged in 2025, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported.
Bosa, who was due a $7 million roster bonus on Friday that put a timeline on the decision with his contract, is now also due a $12.36 million roster bonus on the first day of the 2025 league year -- altered from $8.36 million, Pelissero added.
Bosa's future remained in doubt this week after he played in just 14 games over the past two seasons, generated nine total sacks and was set to count $36.6 million against the salary cap. Since inking his massive five-year, $135 million extension in 2020, Bosa has tallied 27 total sacks in four seasons while missing 25 games.Â
The Chargers could have saved roughly $14 million ($22 million in dead money) by cutting or trading Bosa but, instead, will keep him around while kicking the can down the road.
Likewise, Mack, an eight-time Pro Bowler, was a target for potential release given his team-high $38.5 million cap hit. Instead, the club restructured the deal to keep the edge rusher in town. Unlike Bosa, Mack is coming off a productive campaign, earning a career-high 17 sacks -- his first double-digit sack season since 2018.
Mack hasn't missed a game since joining the Chargers in 2022, but at 33 years old, it was possible the club could have decided to move on and save $23 million on the salary cap.
Instead, L.A. found a way to keep both its highly-paid edge rushers around, mitigating the bloodletting for Jim Harbaugh's new club after Wednesday's release of receiver Mike Williams.
Retaining Mack and Bosa ensures new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter will have an edge presence in Los Angeles as the Chargers ramp up a new regime.
On a top-heavy roster, L.A. was faced with difficult choices this offseason to get under the cap and still add talent. Parting with Williams hurts, but retaining both Mack and Bosa keeps much of the core together for at least one more year. Now it's on Harbaugh and the rest of the brass to add young, cheaper surrounding talent.
