For those of you who are tired of the Khalil Mack rumors being passed around, this one’s for you.
Here are the five fakest news stories (or narratives perhaps) to hit the news feed over the past few weeks regarding Mack. There might be more, but these are the ones that made the cut.
1 – The Raiders can’t pay Khalil Mack because they already have a huge financial commitment to their quarterback.
Derek Carr was the highest paid quarterback in the league for all of about five minutes before a Matthew Stafford stole the crown. And now Stafford is looking up at Matt Ryan, Kirk Cousins, and Jimmy Garoppolo (who has started 7 career games).
By the time the Raiders reach Las Vegas, Carr’s contract probably won’t be top 10 in the NFL and with the salary cap rising every year, there will be plenty of money to go around for everyone. There’s also a new NFL collective bargaining agreement coming in a few years that will probably raise the league’s salary cap some more.
2 – The Raiders want to trade Mack.
There are plenty of stories with “trade” and “Mack” in the headline, but not one credible report has said that the Raiders want to trade their best player. That’s because they don’t.
Could Mack force the Raiders hand by refusing to play? Definitely. If he refused to play another game in silver and black and the team refused to pay him, then the Raiders would be crazy to not get a return on him eventually.
3 – The Raiders would NOT be able to get a haul of draft picks for Mack.
That was a report this week from a Bleacher Report analyst and it might be the most ridiculous story to hit the rumor mill yet. Admittedly, the story was gleaned from quotes by executives around the league, but this same reporter once fell for another tale fed to him by executives around the league. Alas, the Cardinals did not draft Matt Barkley with the 7th overall pick in 2013.
Two first round picks is where the conversation starts for getting Khalil Mack in a trade.
4 – Khalil Mack has nothing to gain by missing regular season games.
That’s true in theory (it might not help him get a deal with the Raiders), but it’s really a matter of perspective. If Mack returns and suffers a significant injury, he could lose more than $60 million in guaranteed money. So looking at his situation that way, there’s the potential for Mack to lose a lot of money by returning to the team without a new deal.
For that reason, a holdout into the regular season would make at least some sense for Mack. Of course, it might cause him a little trouble, too.
5 – The Raiders would never trade Mack.
If he wanted to, Mack could force the Raiders to get rid of him. It might take a while, but if he really dug in and demanded a trade, the Raiders would eventually have to take the highest offer.
Jon Gruden has told a few half truths since he arrived in Oakland, but the Mack situation really has been grueling for him (that’s opinion of course), just as he told reporters this week. Gruden won’t be interested in doing this for a super extended period of time.
Unfortunately for Chucky, though, he might have an opportunity to do it all over again next year with Amari Cooper, who happens to share an agent with Mack.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Despite what Gruden says, this is a huge distraction in my opinion. Everyone else on defense has to be wondering how good they could be with Mack anchoring his usual spot and other players have to be wondering what will happen when time comes to extend their contracts. A presence like Mack’s is definitely missed. That said, this situation needs to get fixed before they take the field against the Rams for their home opener in a couple of weeks because if Mack returns, he will need time to learn Paul Guenther’s defense. His absence will be a problem so they either need to get him signed or move on as quickly as possible.
They won’t negotiate with him until he shows up. They want to pay him BUT three don’t want players to think that is the way to go get that. OBJ showed up , practiced and was there for his team and look what he received. He just needs to show up.