Denver Broncos and George Paton should not overreact from Mack trade

In a shocking turn of events, the Los Angeles Chargers acquired Khalil Mack. This trade should not force the Denver Broncos to overreact.

On Thursday, it was revealed that the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers agreed on a trade to send Khalil Mack to LA in a return to the AFC West. This is a significant trade, but the Denver Broncos need not overreact to it.

The Chargers had one of, if not the worst defense in the NFL this past season. They were awful at stopping the run and teams were able to score on them at will.

Obviously, they were going to work to improve their defense, and their first move is to acquire a 31-year-old pass rusher who missed 10 games during the 2021 season.

Khalil Mack was very good during his time with the Raiders, but he’s now on the wrong side of 30 and just missed significant time this season with an injury.

He’s still under contract for a few more years, and given that Justin Herbert is still on his rookie deal, I’d think they’d like to keep Mack for the remaining time on his contract.

However, this move should not make the Denver Broncos overreact.

You see, this move impacts the Denver Broncos offensive line the most.

However, the Broncos’ offensive line was by all accounts about average in 2021.

The Broncos were 16th in pass block win rate in 2021, and 15th in run block win rate.

I’m no football expert, but I’d argue that both pass block and run block win rate are the two most important statistics when the offensive line is concerned.

Denver can be much better along their offensive line, and they can also be considerably worse.

We already have the right tackle issue, and with Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack coming off the edge, Denver needs to display a bit more urgency in filling that need.

However, there is no reason to panic.

The best right tackle that will be on the market is Morgan Moses, who simply does not miss games and is very good at what he does.

The team can also re-sign Bobby Massie, who was very solid himself.

There aren’t a ton of free-agent right tackle options left, though.

Could Denver sign a left tackle and swing them or Garett Bolles to the right side?  Perhaps.

However, I think that is unlikely and would show a gross overreaction.

Denver still has valuable draft capital to draft a young right tackle and develop them.

They also have reasonable free-agent options available to them.

What makes this even better is Russell Wilson at quarterback. Good and great quarterbacks make their offensive lines better, and it’s reasonable to think that Denver’s offensive line will perform at a higher level because of the Wilson acquisition.

The Denver Broncos still have the cap space to chase an upgrade along the offensive line if they wanted as well.

On the interior, there are a ton of great options if Denver wanted to see if they could upgrade from Dalton Risner, Lloyd Cushenberry, Graham Glasgow, and Quinn Meinerz.

Mark Glowinski, Brandon Scherff, Austin Blythe, and Ryan Jensen all strike me as reasonable upgrades to the unit.

However, Denver does not need to spend big along the offensive line because of the Mack trade.

The Broncos’ offensive line is average, and Wilson will make them better, so could Denver boast a top 10 unit this season? I think that’s likely.

As it pertains to the defensive side, Denver was already planning on upgrading the edge. This is a big need for the team, and Denver should be in the market right when free agency opens to sign someone like Chandler Jones and Haason Reddick.

The Khalil Mack trade does not impact their decision here, and you can never have too many pass rushers, so Denver could even double-dip at the position in free agency or the draft.

Denver’s roster is now among the league’s very best, and there is no reason for the team to change its course of action.