It takes a mighty big story to take the attention away from Jon Gruden’s return to the Raiders, but the Khalil Mack holdout is doing a fine job of trying.
It’s been a mystery to many why the Raiders are moving so slowly to extend Mack a year after they were so aggressive in getting Derek Carr’s contract done before the season. There have been a number of theories as to why the Raiders still haven’t paid Mack, but the consensus seems to be that trading away a player of Mack’s status would be downright foolish.
NBC Sports’ Peter King was the latest to echo that sentiment on Monday:
“I can’t believe that Mark Davis would either approve of the trade of Khalil Mack or trade him himself,” King told Doug Gottlieb on Fox Sports Radio. “That would be a nightmare scenario. You do not trade a potential Hall of Fame pass rusher as he enters his prime. You’ve got to pay him. Period.”
One of the ongoing theories is that Raiders owner Mark Davis simply can’t afford to pay Mack’s signing bonus right now. Davis, after all, did just fork over millions to Carr and head coach Jon Gruden, and the Las Vegas project isn’t entirely being covered by the Las Vegas taxpayers. Does Davis have another $75 million unspoken for in the bank?
Maybe not, and if that’s the case, King believes Davis needs to add a partner if he wants to really be competitive in the modern landscape of the league.
“The cap keeps going up and you’ve got to be able to do business in this league,” King said. “If you trade Khalil Mack, in my opinion, you’re admitting that you can’t do business in the modern NFL. And if you can’t do that, in my opinion, then Mark Davis should get a partner. A deep-pocketed partner who’s going to help with things like the signing bonus for guys who have to get paid.”
Maybe see if the Vegas lawmakers can pitch in some cash to pay for Mack, as well?
"You've got to pay him." #Raiders pic.twitter.com/q6yjrzKCTC
— Raider Posts (@RaiderPosts) August 13, 2018
twitter: @raidersbeat
I can’t think of a bigger example of dumbassery than trading Mack. Davis and McKenzie better get their asses in gear and get this done. If they don’t, the Raiders won’t be worth watching much less rooting for this season. Bottom line. Sign the guy. He’s earned it.
Hey Davis, I’m surprised you’re not asking the City of Oaklan to pay for Mack
This is absolute fuckery biggest defensive cornerstone since cwood24
Nope, one guy on D, no matter how great, won’t win you a championship, what was our record last year with his double digit sacks? How did we do in ‘16 playoffs with 52?
Franchise him in ‘18 & 19 and let some other org. pay him 28 million a year.
How about a #gofundme account? I’m good for $20 Mark.
You always comeplain there’s too many raider’s that belong in Canton but are not. Well here’s a player with no injuries should easily make Canton first ballot Hall of Fame. Pay the man for God’s sake.
What other team is doing business in a decrepit baseball stadium? In two years Mark will be able to S_it that money. King is an a hole, calling out someone who’s a players owner who truly cares about them.
I don’t think King is calling him out more than pointing out that the league has moved from owners like Al Davis and Paul Brown to multi Billionaires who can afford to structure these ever ballooning salaries. The fact is Davis is one of the least Rich Owners in the league and He is earning less than his coach and many of his players so how does one expect him to have the deep pockets to finance paying them? It is a real problem and one that getting a big money partner would alleviate. Can you think of another reason the Raiders have not extended Mack? I can’t either and their is no way trading him is even logical as he is a gernational talent and unless they get next years whole draft from a bottom team it ain’t worth it.
Don’t you look foolish now
Peter king is to sports journalism what Kamala Harris is to reality.
Keep your politics out of sports
Kamala Harris has more intelligence in her high heels than President Bozo the Clown ever had or will… reality??? LMFAO
I agree.
They need to pay mack the man works
He hasn’t worked this year and he’s under contract. What would happen to you if you broke your work contract? I’ll tell you, youde be fired and have to deal with legal repercussions of breaking your contract. I like Mack but holding out on a contract year is unacceptable, fire his ***!!
OR…maybe the fans are tired of paying outrageous ticket costs so that NFL players can keep asking for more money and disrespect our Flag. Bring on the XFL!
Look, it’s not nearly as much about the money to a player in this case as it is about the cap hit! We have $2 million in cap space, and even with some RM cap maneuvering magic it won’t make a dent in the numbers needed without taking a couple pounds of flesh out of the team by sacrificing other players and team depth.
If Connor Cook keeps improving perhaps we can trade Carr to the Pack and keep Mack and Cook and still have a manageable cap..?
Again, it’s not so much about Mack deserving to be paid, it’s the **** cap hit!
Mark may be so desperate for dough, he may be wanting K-Mack to hold out some games this year in order to save on salary and even make some money through those fines. Gruden can always chip in some snaps on Macks money, lets rework the coaches contract. Can you imagine Mark “The Haircut” Davis under the 880 off ramp holding a “Why Lie, I Need A Pass Rusher…Anything Helps” sign?
Calm down ! Donald deal had to get done first #52 will be there in Silver & Black !
He hasn’t worked this year and he’s under contract. What would happen to you if you broke your work contract? I’ll tell you, youde be fired and have to deal with legal repercussions of breaking your contract. I like Mack but holding out on a contract year is unacceptable, fire his ***!!
Agree with King. Al would never do this. You win with hall of fame players. They make rest of players better.
I didn’t think the players signing bonuses came out of the owners bank account. Has Kahlil or his agent come out and said he’s going to hold out when the season starts? If he does miss games then the defense’s performance will determine who has the leverage.
Mark “The Haircut” Davis is clearly broke, at least by NFL owner standards. But not for long. Raider fans know ticket prices will be going up by 50% in 2 years and the Raider Nation is supposed to happily accept it right Mark? But if Mark Davis’ barber raised the price of his haircuts 50% to $6 he’d be effin furious.