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Khalil Mack #52 of the Los Angeles Chargers was a free-agent target of the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n
The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> put forth an effort\u2013how good an effort can be debated\u2013to make a blockbuster trade for star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby<\/a> last week, with the Raiders eventually sending him to the Ravens in a package of two first-round picks. Crosby, of course, would have been a new defensive anchor for the team, a focal point player who might have given Dallas on of the most fearsome fronts in the NFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n When the Cowboys missed on that deal, though, the question became, who\u2019s next? Crosby was an ambitious Plan A and no matter how close Dallas might have gotten to a deal, there was always the chance it would collapse and the Cowboys would need to rebound elsewhere.<\/p>\n Apparently, one of their \u201celsewheres\u201d was Chargers star Khalil Mack<\/a>, the 35-year-old edge who is heading into his 13th season, with nin Pro Bowl selections on his resume. There was some talk that Mack would retire, but after a season in which he recorded 5.5 sacks in 12 games for the No. 10 defense in the NFL, he decided to return. But it won\u2019t be in Dallas.<\/p>\n Cowboys Would Have Been \u2018Suitors\u2019 for Khalil Mack<\/p>\n According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Mack agreed to a one-year deal to remain with the Chargers in 2026 early Sunday morning. It\u2019s not known exactly how eagerly the Cowboys were planning to pursue him, but Schefter\u2019s ESPN colleague reported that Mack was certainly on the Cowboys\u2019 list.<\/p>\n Fowler wrote on Twitter\/X<\/a>: \u201cDallas would have been an option, among other suitors, would Mack have gotten free. But the Chargers wrap this up quickly. Next: What they do with bookend Odafe Oweh.\u201d<\/p>\n Even at his advanced age, Mack was rated the No. 16 pass-rusher in the league, out of 119, by Pro Football Focus<\/a>. He missed four games last season with a dislocated elbow.<\/p>\n There\u2019s Another Top Veteran Besides Khalil Mack<\/p>\n There still are top options available for the Cowboys in free agency, and though the team is not flush with cash, there should be enough under the cap to add multiple players. The Cowboys badly need a middle linebacker, and that is expected to be a priority. They\u2019re also in need of cornerback and safety help, though there is a sense that they could address the defensive backfield in the draft.<\/p>\n If the Cowboys want to truly come out swinging in the offseason, the biggest fish is pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson of the Bengals<\/a>, who was injured last year but still posted 4.0 sacks in seven games. He had 17.5 sacks each in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n Fowler mentioned Oweh, and he could be an option for the Cowboys. He and Eagles<\/a> edge Jaelan Phillips are probably the second tier of pass-rushers for Dallas to consider.<\/p>\n GettyTrey Hendrickson could sign with the Dallas Cowboys in free agency.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Cowboys Have Vowed to Spend<\/p>\n Again, the Cowboys need more than just a pass rusher. They need multiple pass rushers, and they need help at three other positions\u2013plus overall depth. But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones vowed that after 14 total wins in the past two seasons, he will be aggressive.<\/p>\n As he said at the NFL draft combine: \u201cDo I see me ending up spending more money than if you put a perfect picture together that the guy that\u2019s back there looking at the account will say, \u2018We don\u2019t have any,\u2019 or, \u2018We don\u2019t have enough\u2019? I can see me being aggressive, I can see us being aggressive in free agency.<\/p>\n \u201cI am excited about doing everything we can now to have a better record than we had last year, a better team than we had last year. That\u2019s why we have been doing what we\u2019ve been doing with the coaching staff.<\/p>\n \u201cI would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSean Deveney<\/a> is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Cowboys\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Khalil Mack #52 of the Los Angeles Chargers was a free-agent target of the Dallas Cowboys. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-195634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Trey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772971537_475_GettyImages-1701509039-e1772630750898.jpg\")
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