Four games into 2026, the Los Angeles Chargers don't need an insider to tell them what the standings already show.

Sunday's loss in Seattle left them 0-4, and everyone watching is now asking the same question about Khalil Mack.

Adam Schefter said it aloud Monday on The Pat McAfee Show; the Chargers aren't actively shopping Mack, but if the losing continues, it gets hard to explain why they wouldn't cash him in before the deadline.

That's an honest read of how an NFL front office thinks. "Not looking to trade" usually means not yet.

Look at how Mack's deal was structured, and it's almost designed for this situation. He came back on a one-year, $18 million contract with every dollar guaranteed.

The $10 million signing bonus is already spent, so a team would only be taking on about $8 million. Contenders spend that much on depth, and here, they'd be getting a nine-time Pro Bowler.

That's the part Los Angeles has to weigh, Mack isn't part of the next Chargers contender. He's 35 and nearly retired last offseason.

Keeping him through a lost season gets the franchise nothing, while moving him gets at least a pick.

After a quiet opener, he has a sack in three straight games, and he has started every snap that mattered in his 13th season.

He's not the player who wrecked games in Oakland, but he can still finish plays.

His 17 sacks in 2023 set the Chargers' single-season record, and he's been a captain the whole way.

Teams don't trade players like that casually, and Jim Harbaugh doesn't strike anyone as a coach who gives up in October.

The return will be modest. A Day 3 pick, somewhere in the fourth-to-sixth-round range, has been floated as the realistic price.

That's normal for a 35-year-old on an expiring deal, even a very good one. Chicago fans have already started dreaming about a reunion, which shows how quickly contenders will start calling.

The Chargers bought at the deadline last season by adding Odafe Oweh, only to watch him leave in free agency.

Rentals cut both ways, and this time the Chargers would be the team cashing in on one.

The deadline is November 10, which leaves time for the Chargers to change the conversation. One win doesn't save a season, but a three-game run could make all of this moot.

Realistically, though, a 0-4 team in the AFC West doesn't have much margin. If October looks like September, the decision won't be close. Mack gets a shot at another playoff run, the Chargers get a pick, and the rebuild starts a few weeks earlier.