No one wants to hear about the Khalil Mack trade anymore and there’s a good reason for it. In terms of compensation, the Raiders lost the deal. They didn’t get enough. Everyone knows it. Jon Gruden and the gang whiffed on the deal with Chicago, but it doesn’t mean the trade can’t be salvaged. Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round so anything is possible.
So the Mack trade truthers, so far, cannot be proven wrong. Is it fair to say the Raiders lost the trade? Technically, no, because technically D.J. Hayden could someday be a Hall of Famer.
Where the Raiders did maybe break even in the trade (in a roundabout way) was Gruden’s ability to deplete the roster and boost the Raiders draft position. Let’s say the Raiders would have won five games with Mack on the roster – that’s just two more games. In that case, Gruden would currently hold the tenth pick in the draft. The cost to move up from the tenth pick to the second pick (which the Raiders presently occupy) would cost roughly the same as what the Raiders got from the Bears for Mack.
By a standard draft trade chart, the second pick is worth 2,600 points. The tenth pick is worth 1,300 points. The cost to move up from pick ten to pick two should be 1,300 points or the equivalent to the 28th (660 points) and 29th (640 points) picks in the draft – which is roughly where the Bears seem destined to finish this year. Obviously, it’s too early to be exact, but the Raiders also dubiously sent a second-round pick (and gained a third-round pick) to Chicago with Mack so that would be another 230-ish points lost if the Raiders finish around 8-8 next year.
The Raiders wouldn’t trade Mack to move up 8 spots in the draft and even though Mark Davis and Gruden aren’t going to say it, they know they got bamboozled by the Bears. They gambled on the Bears being bad and got burned. The salary cap debate and the “we couldn’t afford anymore good players if we had signed Mack” argument is horse manure, but for all the slanted talk about the trade being a good trade (one blog even called it a “genius” move by Gruden) for the Raiders, the actual silver lining might come in the form of the team’s inadvertent tank job. Call it what you want, but the second pick in this year’s draft has a lot of value and the Raiders could have never pulled it off with Khalil Mack.
Genius.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Totally disagree. They got what he was worth, saved buckets of cash and NOBODY would have paid more for him, even now. Everybody is aware of this. Stop already.
As I’ve posted about 10x before…… the problem is not so much trading Mack, but the timing. It made NO SENSE whatsoever to pull the trigger on a trade until the end of the season. Let him sit out all year, if he wants to, then open up the trading frenzy leading up to the draft. At least you know EXACTLY where the teams are picking and you sell to the highest bidder. Trading him 2 months ago was so incredibly ridiculous, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t done by some 10-year on his PS4 “just for fun”. Grown *** adults, in the industry, made this trade? Unreal……
I personally don’t believe that with Mack the Raiders would be much better. Even with Mack we had one of the worst defenses in the league(Not saying it was his fault). NOBODY thought the Bears even with Mack were going to be this good. To be completely fair, the Bears already had a top 10 defense. Adding Mack just made them the best defense with the best DC in the game. The real reason the Bears are so good is because of their offense being able to score points this year. With the creativity of their head coach that offense has been able to at least keep the defense off the field for a breather. You could argue that the Bears defense last year may have been just as good last year had the offense been able to keep up their end just a lil. My point in this is that I don’t believe Mack was going to make much of a difference for the Raiders as the draft picks could possibly fill the many holes the roster has.I’m not saying Mack isn’t great,but I am saying him with this Raiders defense wasn’t going to make much of a difference. Just like the seasons he was with the Raiders and the defense was just horrible. Bottom line is I believe looking at the bigger picture unless the Bears win the Super Bowl(Which is entirely possible) this trade is a wash and could be in the Raiders favor if the draft picks pay off and the amount of money the Bears are going to have to pay to keep there core guys after putting that much money into one player.
Another (minor) benefit is that the money that they would have paid Mack over the life of his contract can now be used to lure some (hopefully) premium freer agents.
mark davis is paying 650 million for the stadium. 100 million for gruden. 125 million for carr. and a 500 million dollar transfer fee to move the team. could he have afforded to pay cooper and/or mack?
at least he will have five first round draft picks for 4 years at the rookie max, which is a significant difference to what he would have to pay cooper and mack.
whether the raiders won this trade will be known 3 or four years from now depending on the success of the draft picks
I cannot believe some of the things i read. I agree with Mike above as regardless the Raiders (4 whatever reason) could have guaranteed better deal in terms of picks had they waited. Raiders could have forced Mack into playing contract out or Mack sitting out (which he wouldnt as his situation is far diff than Bell) would lose as he would still owe Raiders final year of contract whether 2018, 2019 etc… In Mack u know u have sure hall of famer n 2 suggest Raiders won trade or evened out is ridiculous – a team could go many drafts n not pick a hall of fame player n Raiders had 1 in Mack no guessing at that. Also, 2 say Mack wouldnt make a difference in Raiders D is crazy n senseless. The only way Mack doesnt make diff is either due 2 coaching scheme or surrounding players but no matter what any defense will be improved with what Mack provides n only an idiot would think otherwise. Raiders could have signed Mack 4 less than Bears deal n where Gruden n Davis deserve insults is the many many lies they told from start n Davis going into seclusion 4 lengthy amount of time 2 only now come out n again lie portraying he is responsible 4 moves. BS u dont pay Gruden (unworthy of contract without question) n then deny him say-so in personnel. It is clear that Gruden orchestrated everything n events clearly reveal who bore responsability 4 all moves. With Mack the Raiders needed 2 make a lot of moves but Raiders already possessed some young talent that will hopefully become key players. Listen bottom line with the way NFL is these days it is unlikely a team will retain gud n even decent players once their rookie contracts expire as other teams have shown they will sign average players 2 big contracts or bigger than warranted. That being said when team has chance 2 keep or retain services of a great player u dont mess or pass that up. The Raiders fouled up n whether its Davis inability 2 afford signing Mack or stupidity in wanting a sure hall of famer it doesnt take away from the fact that Raiders appear 2 b same dysfunctional organization they have been 4 quite some time. U cannot believe lies that Mack refused 2 come 2 camp blah blah blah as Raiders didnt reach out 2 Mack while Donald who was holding out spoke with coach regularly. N how can any1 take Raiders seriously when they will attempt 2 justify not signing home-grown sure hall of fame player n b proud n stand behind signing a never 2 b hall of fame coach who has accomplished NOTHING n paid him ridiculous incompetent amount of money, money the player deserved b4 the coach. Cooper n other players needed 2 go long ago regardless of what his weak a** does in Dallas.
It’s been nearly an entire season since Mack has been traded and the media is still acting like the jealous boyfriend who got dumped by his girlfriend. Move on. Stop talking about it and move on. Nobody cares anymore. All your friends have heard you bellyache about her for months, and frankly you just look pathetic now. They even stopped taking your phone calls because that’s all you ever talk about. Stop.Just.Stop.
Look here. Yes the trade wasnt a fan favorite, but looking at it was both a business deal and personal favor. No way would the raiders play Mack in this underachieving team. @ 3-13. Might as well trade him and get picks and use his talents elsewhere