EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Among the most important things successful NFL teams can never have enough of, pass rushers and cap space are high on the list.
The Los Angeles Chargers have plenty of the latter this offseason — more than $92 million worth according to Spotrac.com — and would like to use it to maintain the former, with edge rushers Khalil Mack and Odafe Oweh set to reach free agency and emerging star Tuli Tuipulotu in line for a significant contract extension.
General manager Joe Hortiz would be comfortable using a healthy chunk of that available money to retain and reward the three outside linebackers, who combined for 26 of the Chargers’ 45 sacks this season.
“Those are the discussions you have, but the easy answer is yeah,” Hortiz said. “The easy answer is yes, because they’re impact players, all three of them. They’re great teammates, they’re great competitors, and just great people to be around, so yeah. We’re investing in great players who are great people too.”
Hortiz cautioned there is always a push and pull over how to allocate resources, including when not to spend. He pointed out how the Chargers were able to trade for Oweh during the season because they had not spent up to the cap and had flexibility to take on his contract.
At the same time, it will be hard to move on from what the three outside linebackers quickly established individually and especially together when sharing the field on third downs and other obvious passing situations.
Tuipulotu, 23, had a breakout third season as he finished with 13 sacks and 20 tackles for loss in 16 regular-season games. He also had a sack and a tackle for loss in the AFC wild-card loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. A second-round pick in 2023, Tuipulotu will make just over $1.6 million in the final year of his rookie contract, so the USC product is in line for a major raise.
Oweh had 7 1/2 sacks in 12 games after being acquired in October, kickstarting his contract season after failing to record a sack through five games for the Baltimore Ravens. Oweh, 27, was playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal after being drafted in the first round in 2021.
Mack, an 11-year veteran, could formally enter free agency for the first time after passing up the chance to do so by signing a one-year contract extension last March to stay in Los Angeles. Despite missing four games because of an elbow injury, Mack finished with 5 1/2 sacks in 12 games, and his mentorship and experience was crucial in helping Tuipulotu and Oweh grow.
“Those guys know we love them, and (we would) love to have them all back,” Hortiz said. “You know, been engaged with some of their agents already. We’re just gonna work through it and try to get as many back as we can.”
Mack, who will turn 35 next week, considered retirement before returning to the Chargers this past season. He plans to take his time deciding if he wants to continue playing.
“If the vibes are high, the decisions will be made, but just figuring it out day by day,” Mack said.
Other key decisions facing Hortiz include whether to pick up wide receiver Quentin Johnston’s fifth-year option, the status of other key free agents such as wide receiver Keenan Allen and defensive tackle Teair Tart, and how to handle an offensive line that badly missed left tackle Rashawn Slater and right tackle Joe Alt after each sustained season-ending injuries.
“I’ve said it over and over — if you chase perceived needs in free agency, in the draft, you end more often than not overpaying or making a mistake, so we do have to be calculated. We have to be smart,” Hortiz said.
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New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is hit by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh (98) and linebacker Khalil Mack (52) after throwing an incomplete pass in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, left, avoids a tackle by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack (52) in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
CAIRO (AP) — The White House released the names of some of the leaders who will play a role in overseeing next steps in Gaza after the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision met for the first time Friday in Cairo.
The committee's leader, Ali Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, pledged to get to work quickly to improve conditions. He expects reconstruction and recovery to take about three years and plans to focus first on immediate needs, including shelter.
“The Palestinian people were looking forward to this committee, its establishment and its work to rescue them,” Shaath said after the meeting, in a television interview with Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News.
U.S. President Donald Trump supports the group's efforts to govern Gaza after the two-year war between Israel and Hamas. Israeli troops withdrew from parts of Gaza after the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, while thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to what is left of their homes.
Now, there will be a number of huge challenges going forward, including the deployment of an international security force to supervise the ceasefire deal and the difficult process of disarming Hamas.
Under Trump's plan, Shaath's technocratic committee will run day-to-day affairs in Gaza under the oversight of a Trump-led “Board of Peace,” whose members have not yet been named.
The White House said an executive board will work to carry out the vision of the Board of Peace.
The executive board’s members include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.
Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and U.N. Mideast envoy, is to serve as the executive board’s representative overseeing day-to-day matters.
The White House also announced the members of another board, the “Gaza Executive Board,” which will work with Mladenov, the technocratic committee and the international stabilization force.
Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan and Mladenov will also sit on that board. Additional members include: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency; Emirati minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay; and Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert.
In the West Bank, friends and relatives gathered Friday to mourn the death of a 14-year-old Palestinian boy killed by Israeli forces.
The Palestinian Health Ministry, which confirmed his death, said Mohammad Na’san was the first child killed by the army in the occupied West Bank in 2026.
Residents said Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas in an unprovoked attack. Israel’s military said in a statement that the incursion came after Palestinians had hurled rocks at Israelis and set tires aflame.
“There was gunfire directed at citizens and farmers, the most dangerous of which occurred during the storming of the village as people were leaving the mosques. The streets were crowded with the elderly, children, women, and elders, and they began firing relentlessly,” said Ameen Abu Aliya, head of the Al-Mughayyir village council.
The death was the latest episode of violence to hit al-Mughayyir, a village east of Ramallah that has become a flashpoint in the West Bank. Much of the community’s agricultural land falls under Israeli military control.
Early this year, settlers and Israeli military bulldozers destroyed olive groves in the area, saying they were searching for Palestinian gunmen. A children’s park in al-Mughayyir was also demolished.
In 2025, 240 Palestinians — including 55 children — were killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank, while Palestinians killed 17 Israelis — including one child — in the region, according to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, two children were killed Friday in Gaza, a 7-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy. They were killed in Beith Lahiya, near the Yellow Line, and their bodies taken to al-Shifa Hospital, the hospital said. No further details were immediately available.
Price reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Jalal Bwaitel and Imed Isseid contributed to this report from Ramallah, Wafaa Shurafa from Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Matthew Lee from Washington.
A Palestinian inspects the rubble of the al-Hawli family home, destroyed in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the al-Hawli family home, destroyed in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Children walk over a pile of garbage at a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians on a beach in Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
