Jon Gruden looked to trade for Khalil Mack before free agency
The Khalil Mack trade was an awful first impression for Jon Gruden when he rejoined the Las Vegas Raiders. The all-pro defensive end was a building block from this team for years to come, but the marriage ended abruptly with a trade to Chicago Bears.
It seems that Gruden has buyer’s remorse and wants the talented pass rush back on this team. Vic Tafur reported today that before the signing of Yannick Ngakoue, the Raiders made a call to the bears for Mack.
The Raiders reached out to the Bears ahead of free agency this March to see if Chicago was interested in trading star pass rusher Khalil Mack back to Las Vegas, league sources told The Athletic.
The Bears had significant salary-cap issues — which forced them to release All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller and restructure several contracts — and the Raiders thought it was worth a shot. However, Chicago was not interested in a trade, sources said.
Raiders officials had no comment, as they don’t talk about trade offers given or received.
What the?
Is it weird for this to happen, especially since Carr took less money from them to keep Mack.
“Khalil is one of my best friends, he is someone I talk to weekly,” Carr told the “Cris Collinsworth Podcast” in June. “He is just a great guy. It goes back to when we got drafted. When he got traded, I couldn’t believe it. Because the way it was set up, the way I did my contract, the way we set it up, the way Gabe Jackson did his, we were setting it up to where cap-wise, it would be easy to bring Khalil in.
“But … it didn’t end up working out, for whatever reasons I hope to know someday. It didn’t work out. But I know one thing is that I would welcome Khalil back anyway. He is a superstar talent and he is one of the best people in the world.”
There were concerns about the team being low on cash altogether, which helped cause the trade. The Raiders organization has said that Mack did not want to play here, but we haven’t heard Mack’s side of the story at all.
I believe Raider nation would have embraced Mack back with plenty of love. Maybe a reunion could be coming down the line.
In other Raiders links:
Derek Carr ranks on QB traits: Football outsiders worked with ESPN insiders and analysts to list the top 10 quarterbacks based on attributes.
Nate Hobbs breakdown: our own BD Williams breaks down Nate Hobbs performance versus the Rams on YouTube.
Solomon Thomas bounces back candidate: Raiders Maven predicts Solomon Thomas to be a backup candidate.
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