It’s no secret that the Raiders and NFL super agent Joel Segal haven’t been on the greatest of terms over the past year. The origin of the rift between Segal and the Raiders has generally been attributed to Jon Gruden, but owner Mark Davis has also drawn scrutiny for the way the Khalil Mack negotiations played out.
Davis acknowledged that the Raiders offered Mack a record-breaking deal a year ago, but that Mack’s camp had declined the deal at the time and wanted to hold out for more money. Davis, according to Denver radio voice Benjamin Allbright, became so aggravated with Segal’s method of doing business that he wanted to move away altogether from Segal’s clients.
What if an owner got so angry at an agent declining a fair offer, that he vowed not to have that agent's players on his team and began trading them away…?
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) December 5, 2018
Whether true or not, it wouldn’t be the first time Davis lost faith in a business counterpart and walked away from negotiations. Not many years ago it was the decision by the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority to more than triple the stadium rent on the Raiders that is generally credited as the breaking point in negotiations between Davis and the city of Oakland. From that moment, Davis seemed to set his sights on Las Vegas (though some would say it happened much sooner) and never looked back.
As for Mack and Cooper, there’s also good reason to believe that Segal was doing everything he could to move the Raiders to trading both of his clients. By orchestrating a trade, Segal gained leverage that brought more money to Mack and will soon do the same for Cooper. Any team trading away a first-round pick (or two in Mack’s case) was/is essentially at the mercy of an agent’s asking price. So it probably wasn’t coincidence that a report emerged only weeks before the Raiders traded Cooper that he was looking for a deal before his fifth-year option (just as Mack did) and wanted money comparable to the elite at his position.
Do with the reports what you will (they’ll surely be contested), but there’s no question that Mack and his agent were seeking the very top dollar they could get from the Raiders… even if that meant finding a new football team. That wasn’t the experience the team had with Derek Carr and it definitely bothered some of the top decision-makers in Oakland, including the Raiders owner and head coach.
Obviously, it wouldn’t be ideal for the Raiders to develop a reputation for instantly trading disgruntled players, so that’s a narrative that the team will want to squash and/or prove wrong as soon as possible… or more agents are sure to adopt Segal’s negotiating tactics with the Raiders going forward.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Why would Davis feel secure with an agent that wanted more then the player should be paid? Mack is a great player but his salary had to have a boundary that any team should havd paid. Mack refused to showup to camp and caused issues on the team. The only thing i am upset with is they didn’t get more for Mack.
As for Cooper you could see he quit awhile ago and need to be traded. Unfortunately he decided to play in Dallas or lose all the money the Cowboys will pay him.
Carl E. The Mack trade ws a terrible move by gruden players hold out all the time, and they just didn’t know how to use Cooper now the picks are going to be very late first round BECAUSE the Bears and the Cowboys are playing for division titles. LOSE LOSE FOR THE RAIDERS
I agree that Mack is a great,one in a life time pass rusher.That being said he deserved every cent he asked for.Fact is very few 1st. round picks turn out to be as dominant as Mack.It ‘s like one out of 1000 and in a decade the chances of your 1st rou d picks being bust are extremely high.Have you ever took heed to the wise saying “a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush” ? It’s not a fable but reality. The Raiders can have 100 1st round picks and not get a dominant DE.
I would like nothing more than to believe these newly surfacing stories that appear to be a means of lightening the burden of culpability that more than likely lay at the feet of Gruden. The difficulty in believing this is the many discrepancies and many contradictory statements, proclamations, and acts made and executed by Gruden and Company throughout this craziness. Also the fact that the Raiders, if truly wishing to retsin Mack could have easily forced him to play out his contract and possessed his rights trading him after season or using franchise tag on him. Mack by no means was the party holding all the cards as Raiders possessed the power with Mack having little alternative but to report or allow Raiders right to receive prrformance of remaining year of rookie contract whether it be next season or however long Mack and his dilusions persisted upon. Gruden continued to deceive media and fans coupled with Davis becoming quiet for such a lengthy period of time and McKenzie basically revealing enough to point all fingers at Gruden. I do not believe Gruden at all and the so-called offensive genious guru has been nothing of the sort. I am still convinced that Gruden played out a scheme of some sort which is why he would dictate outrageous contract of 100 million with almost its entirety paid up front.
But they paid Carr before his contract was up and was an elite player. At least Mack money was justified because he won player of the year Carr hasn’t done anything since he got his money
Bunch of greedy bastards I hope I hope one of them break a leg cry baby’s 951 SO CAL
RN4L
I’ll consider this theory if Joseph is a client. My thoughts on Joseph is that he flashes talent and then goes back to the poor coaching he received at WVU. You just can’t draft WVU players in the first 2 days of the draft. They all come out as projects.
I’ll consider this theory if Joseph is a client. My thoughts on Joseph is that he flashes talent and then goes back to the poor coaching he received at WVU. You just can’t draft WVU players in the first 2 days of the draft. They all come out as projects.
Yep Copper wasn’t giving 100% in Oakland. Glad he’s gone. Loved Mack but why pay him to be on a shitty team.
We need to stop beating this dead horse.if you are under contract you show up to work.end of story .real men want to play and not abandon your fellow teammates. I am happy he is gone. remember once a raider always a raider? That was never Mack!
It would not surprise if that was true. Davis is clearly over his head and this would be just more evidence supporting the my claim. What the apologists seem to ignore is that Davis could have slap the franchise tag on Mack this year. In year two he could have put the transition tag on him an still got a 1st.
Any player drafted by the raiders would be smart to hire the same agent as Mack and Cooper. He has no money to sign any top free agents, and will no doubt screw up every draft pick the raiders have. That mentally challenged dumbass gets everything that’s coming to him. Mack and Cooper are better off with the teams they play for now.
Allot of Raider Nation don’t even know this is what really happened. I don’t blame Mark Davis one bit. Mack wanted money more than team. That’s why he is gone.
Cooper laid an egg then a statement surfaced that Coop wanted Top WR money when he knew dam well he wasn’t playing well enough to earn it. Now that he thinks he is on a better team, he puts in more effort to get paid. F Him, When we play the Cowbows in 2 years I hope we have elite CB”s to shut his as down.
As for Mack we play Chicago @ home next season. Miller and Parker better be ready to shut his assistant down as well.
Raiders should have sent Siegal a message by making the player play per his contract and then franchise him. The trade would be delayed by two years but no player wants to be franchised and risk injury. Instead they rewarded Mack
F it there gone let’s move on
I agree with Carl…..the Raiders delt Mack way to cheap.