Khalil Mack Is Building Up Fines, But It’s Unlikely He’ll Have To Pay

As Khalil Mack’s holdout officially extends into its third week, the Raiders “best player” (as Gruden called him Wednesday) is not only missing valuable time with his new coaching staff, but he’s also building up a mountain of fines.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Thursday that Mack’s accumulated fines after holding out this weekend will surpass $1.6 million. It’s generally assumed that teams forgive fines at the conclusion of a holdout, but that isn’t always the case. Fortunately for Mack, there seems to be some precedent that he won’t be hit with a fortune in fines when he comes back.

According to The Athletic’s Jimmy Durkin, the Raiders did not fine Penn a year ago so it’s hard to imagine Mack will be treated any differently now. It’s rare that the public learns about what happens with a fine following a holdout – and for good reason. Teams benefit in no way from that information getting out.

For what it’s worth, The Athletic has a great source or two (doesn’t take an ace detective to know who) when it comes to Donald Penn, so the report on Penn is good as gold. And speaking of Penn’s holdout, his bank account most likely benefited from the decision. The $3 million guaranteed in Penn’s deal (that the Raiders just pushed back for another year) was essentially the fruit of his holdout – and is most likely money that Penn would have never seen otherwise.

As for Mack, or anyone who might be interested in keeping tabs on those hefty holdout fines, maybe don’t waste your time. Those fines are about as likely to happen as a Derek Carr curse word.

The best news for Mack (other than news that his own deal has been reached) would be that the Rams and Aaron Donald are able to agree on a new deal. Once that happens, and it sounds like that might happen sooner than later, the market would be set for Mack – and maybe, just maybe, Mack could have his new deal by the season opener.

Wouldn’t that just be the bee’s knees?

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