The Bears have already been busy this offseason making two trades to beef up their offensive line, acquiring Jonah Jackson from the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday and Joe Thuney from the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday morning, per reports.

Another area of need the Bears would like to bolster is the defensive line.

According to 670 The Score’s Chris Emma, sources that believe Khalil Mack wants to return to Chicago as a complimentary piece instead of a super star.

So that begs the question, would the Bears entertain the idea of bringing in the former pass rusher back to the Windy City? Our Bears on the Marquee Podcast panel discussed the idea of a potential reunion.

“This is a guy who gets it. This is a guy who despite his advanced age, I know he was considering retirement, this is a guy that can still play,” Marquee Sports Network’s Bears Insider Scott Bair said on the podcast. “I know Bears fans have like a weird memory of him because it cost so much to get him and if you look at it in totality, was the juice worth the squeeze?”

In 2018, Bears GM Ryan Pace made a blockbuster trade with the Oakland [now Las Vegas] Raiders acquiring Mack as well as a 2020 second-round draft pick (Cole Kmet) and seventh-round draft pick (Arlington Hambright). In exchange, the Bears sent the Raiders a 2019 first-round draft pick (Josh Jacobs) and sixth-round draft pick (Blessaun Austin) as well as a 2020 first-round draft pick (Damon Arnette) and a third-round draft pick (Bryan Edwards).

After that trade in 2018, Mack signed a 6-year, $141 million contract extension, becoming the highest paid defensive player at the time.

In his first season Mack put up impressive numbers with the Bears, recording 12.5 sacks, 1 interception, 6 forced fumbles, was named an All-Pro and finished 2nd in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting behind Aaron Donald.

Four years later, current Bears GM Ryan Poles sent Mack to the Chargers for a 2022 second-round draft pick (Jaquan Brisker) and a 2023 sixth-round draft pick (Scott Matlock). During his four seasons in Chicago, he registered 163 tackles, 36 sacks, 2 interceptions and 14 forced fumbles.

Should Mack consider signing with the Bears this offseason? Carmen Vitali mentions the signing would be dependent on the price tag.

“If Khalil Mack is open to restructuring and is open to the fact that, ‘hey maybe he has lost a little bit of a step,’ I’m never going to say that adding experience along the defensive line in particular or the offensive line, either of the lines is going to be a bad thing,” Vitali said. “Does Khalil Mack still command respect from opposing offenses? And the answer is yes. That makes Montez Sweat’s job a lot easier on the other side, it makes all the interior guys job easier all along side him, but, the price would have to be right.”