In the weeks leading up to his trade, the Raiders fooled a lot people, including some closest to the team, into believing that Khalil Mack wasn’t going to be traded.
It was a convincing narrative, made even more believable by the fact that after the draft, the idea of a trade made less sense than ever.
Nevertheless, the trade rumors were everywhere and anyone not hiding under a rock knew the Raiders were taking calls on Jon Gruden’s self-proclaimed best player on the roster. They were technically married to Mack but had been flirting with his trade value for weeks, maybe months.
Over the weekend, Bears general manager Ryan Pace acknowledged that he was hearing Mack might be available even before teams reported for to training camp in July.
It was always something Gruden had in mind.
If you take nothing else from Mack’s trade, it should maybe be an unfortunate reminder that teams love to control their own narratives. They controlled the message on Mack right up to the bitter end. Some went to bed on Saturday night understanding that Mack might return to the Raiders in the next few days and woke up to news of the trade.
Whether it’s football news or news of another kind, it’s always important to do your own thinking. Not every story that doesn’t make perfect sense is “click bait” and sometimes the truth isn’t the message that most benefits a team. In Mack’s case, the longer he was perceived as unavailable, his perceived value to the Raiders was only bolstered.
Credit to the Bears for ignoring the noise and being persistent. Their reward is Khalil Mack… and a second round pick.
twitter: @raidersbeat
This is one if the boldest moves by a pro sports team in history. If the raiders miss the playoffs again this year or if their defense sucks they’re going to alienate a huge chunk of their fanbase. Belichick has been getting away with this same sort of thing for many years, but he’s always made the playoffs and so much more. A bold move indeed by Gruden…
If it’s true that Mack was available since July, then shame on the Raiders for not getting even more in return! Yesterday, Mack did say it was important to be wanted. Perhaps he knew Gruden was trading him and so why would anyone expect him to report to camp? This thing worked out for Mack tho. It doesn’t look good for the Raiders yet. Bears will need a championship to justify it and before their QB is eligible for his huge pay day. Otherwise they will be facing same dilemma Raiders were facing with paying 2-players remarkable money and potentially limiting cap space for next 6 or more seasons. Although, advantage Bears for having a better defense to begin with.
The Raiders basically got only one first round pick from the Bears. Should the Bears end up having a decent, to good, to better than expected season and the Raiders have a bad, to worse season then both teams will be drafting within a handful of picks during the end of round one and beginning of round two. The other first round pick will be wash after giving the Bears a second round pick. The Raiders got fleeced.