Khalil Mack is one of the NFL’s best defensive players and a franchise cornerstone of the Oakland Raiders. So, it would be shocking if the Raiders decided to trade him, right?
Well, Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman touched on the subject in a column Wednesday, and he relayed some interesting thoughts from an NFC executive.
“The odds of such a trade were zero percent a few months back, but now they are 20 to 30 percent and increasing every day, one NFC team executive said,” per Freeman.
“There’s a feeling the Raiders are open for business when it comes to Mack,” the executive told Freeman.
Freeman notes Mack wants a new contract, but as we’ve seen time and time again in the NFL, it’s unusual these front office staredowns don’t end in the player’s favor.
Mack still is only 27 years old and likely has several more fantastic seasons ahead of him as his prime continues. He also fits the team’s timetable. The Raiders want to win now and enter the 2018 season under tremendous pressure to do so after failing to make the playoffs in 2017 and paying tons of money to lure Jon Gruden back as head coach. Oakland’s defense ranked 23rd in yards allowed per game and 20th in points allowed. Without Mack, the Raiders would fall even further down the league’s bottom-third of defenses.
The Raiders are not rebuilding, so it makes no sense to give up on Mack, especially when you consider they’ll want to be as competitive as possible when the team completes its relocation to Las Vegas in the near future.
If the Raiders got a draft pick(s) in a potential deal for Mack, the odds of them using that selection to acquire another Pro Bowl-caliber defensive end are not very high.
A new contract remains the best-case scenario for both sides.
