Khalil Mack may have a tough decision to make in the days ahead.
As he waits to agree on what will be a record-setting deal for his position, Mack is well aware that he risks losing millions of dollars to injury by showing up for offseason team activities.
By not showing up, it would also put a little added pressure on the Raiders to move more quickly toward a deal – something general manager Reggie McKenzie doesn’t prefer to do.
Writing for The Athletic, John Middlekauff believes the right move for Mack is to hold out.
“My educated guess is he wants to show up. It’s just the type of guy he is. He is a worker, and naturally wants to be part of the team he captains. But from a business perspective, his agent has to be telling Mack not to go. It’s the right move. Create a little urgency for the Raiders. Especially since they have a new coaching staff with a new scheme.”
The reality for Mack is that right now he is a victim of his unparalleled abilities.
This is why…
The Raiders have Mack this season on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal and could give him the franchise tag next year.
By waiting to give Mack a new deal, the Raiders could save money for the next two seasons.
Mack would basically be giving the Raiders two more seasons at a bargain rate as even the franchise tag is a bargain when you’re dealing with the best player in the league at a premium position.
For that reason, Mack may very well be considering a holdout.
There should be enough motivation for Mack and the Raiders to get a deal done, but there is a chance the Raiders will be hesitant to have two $100 million contracts on the books.
If that happens to be the case, there’s always the nuclear option that no one is talking about.
How many first round picks could the Raiders get for Mack in a trade?
Don’t put it past Jon Gruden to sniff around and find out.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Trade Carr or anyone on the team, except Mack. The whole point of the draft is to find a once in a decade type of guy like Mack. We ONLY had that chance because Buffalo dropped the ball. Reggie is clueless at draft time, thank god Chuckie can pic the winners!
Reggie took a **** team and built it to 12-4 and a SB favorite in five years. Yeah they pretty much sucked last season with the main reason being a change at OC. Reggie has had his fair share of misses but overall he has drafted pretty well. Other than DJ, who is still starting in the league, his first rounders may all turn out just fine. Mack, Josephs, and Conley look like the nucleus of the defense but he needs to find a few more. His late rounders have been good too. Murray, Carrie, Washington, Richards,Ellis have all been pretty good. Where I think he gas dropped tge ball has been in the second and third rounds. Other than 2014 and Mario Edwards we haven’t got much with these picks so far. Ward and Calhoun have really struggled and it’s too soon to tell on Obi.
You know gruden wanted Johnny manziel in the draft over Derek Carr right ?
Wow, that reply leads me to believe that YOU are actually clueless. You never, EVER trade your franchise QB. That’s the guy who has the most influence on how many games are won, bottom line.
Carr has top 5 in the NFL level potential, and he’s only 26, meaning he will be the face of the franchise for many years. You don’t trade THAT guy.
Mack would be traded well before discussions even got brought up on Carr, though to be fair, no one is trading Mack either. Gruden won’t be listening to anyone, and while RM may not like two 100+ mill contracts on the roster, he also knows that good drafting compensates for lack of money to spend on free agents.
GB did it w/AR and Mathews, Ravens w/Lewis and Flacco, Pitt w/Ben and Tony P. They’re the core players to the offense and defense, the foundation that the test of the team is built on…. you don’t trade that away.
Wow sorry but I feel the author is so wrong.
Raiders are by no.means concern of having Derek Carr and Khalil Mack at over 100 million dollar contacts.
At most your talking about 50 million at approx. 25 million a year at most.
Front loading or back loading contracts.
Restructuring other deals.
Gruden Loves Mack on Def, you don’t give that up.
His deal will get down only a matter if time. No reason for Mack to Rush out to OTA’s.
He is a baller and he will be ready Week one
No Doubt
No reason to think Nuclear Option at least not this year.
Hopefully in a couple of years when we have to many good players.
Not there yet.
The Raiders wouldn’t consider trading the best player to wear silver and black in 15 + years. That would be ludicrous. There will be a deal for Mack. I believe the Raiders will have a huge contract for Mack even if they have to cut someone else to get it done
Sign him, by any means.
If you traded him for two ones you’d have to hit two HOME RUNS to justify it. That’s not a likely scenario for any GM. Just sign the guy, don’t get cute.
Mack and Carr are the two guys we have to keep. They are the most talented players on each side of the field. As much as I’d hate to do it, I’d rather trade Gabe @10 mil, Cook @5.3 mil, cut Penn at 8.3 (3mil cap), even Cooper as we will have to extend him next year. We can find players like Gabe,Cook, and Penn in the draft. We’re not going to find Carr or Mack in the draft, at least not with noticeable drop off in performance until they mature, develop and adapt to the NFL. RG, LT, TE, WR they can play immediately with a lot less drop off in talent level than trying to get a rookie to play like DC or Mack at their current level. Salary caps will continue to rise. At some point, teams are going have 2 maybe 3 100 million dollar players. It’s not impossible to do it now, it just requires we let go of some blue chips thathave a greater chance of having replacements year one in he draft vs Mack or Carr.
*trade, not cut Cooper.
Yep….. RM and JG will have to up their drafting game, but that shouldn’t be a problem now that Raiders will actually be able to develop players properly and put them in a position to succeed. Many successful teams over the years have had a star QB and defensive player, sometimes several defensive players. Steelers with Troy P, James Harrison, Ward, and Bettis rings a bell, same with Ray Lewis, Suggs, and Flacco. It’s doable.
Your an idiot! another bullshit article
Lmao…yup.
ZERO inside sources involved in this 100% speculative article. Trash writing, theoretical non-sense trying to strum up some sort of story during a slower time for NFL news.
Poor journalism, poor judgment, and poor excuse for an article.
Has ANYONE from Mack’s camp said ANYTHING indicating that he is unhappy with his situation? Has ANYONE on the Organization’s front office said anything about there being a problem with Mack’s extension? Do you have a source citing these statements? No. You have nothing. This article is trash.
Mack is going to get PAID, everyone knows that. He’s not making chump change right now, he’s going to make like $14+ million this year. Let’s say he does get franchised after next season, that will get him about $16 million, based on the current salaries of the top Defensive Ends – $2 million below his current market value estimation by Spotrac.
I highly highly doubt they will franchise him, because it doesn’t make good sense to franchise a player you want to keep long term. If you think short sightedly, then yes, it saves you some money for one year. But, don’t forget, Aaron Donald is also due a huge pay day as well. Right now, Von Miller is setting the bar at $17.5 million per year. So the top defensive players’ are going to be setting their bar at that, if the Raiders wait to extend Mack until after the Rams extend Donald, you can be certain that they’ll be paying more than an extra $2 million dollars. Signing Mack as soon as possible before the market, and salary cap goes up is imperative for the Raiders to get the best deal.
Just look at Derek Carr’s contract. He was the highest paid player for what..a month until other QB’s started getting more. Carr’s contract was the first, so it set the minimum for that cycle. This isn’t new. It’s how this has been done for years and anyone who pays any sort of attention to this aspect of the NFL knows that.
This article has no source, and makes no sense from a practicality stand point. Quit trying to stir up drama where there isn’t any.
I wish Carr could’ve played in the playoffs in our 12-4 season because other than that hes been a mediocre QB, now don’t go crazy on me here because I like Carr a lot but ever since he got hurt he hasn’t been the same QB he was, he’s trying so hard to NOT get hurt again it’s affecting his play, getting rid of the ball as soon as he see’s someone get thru the line, no more taking chances downfield and just quick dumpoff’s, he’s gotta get that mentality outta his head quick, so hopefully Gruden can help him get his confidence back because with his confidence high there’s not much better,