On the eve of the trade’s eight-year mark, Khalil Mack is still offering a sharper look at how things fell apart with the Raiders.
The former Raiders star said on Bussin’ with the Boys that his exit was tied to both the coaching change and the pull of a deal he ultimately couldn’t ignore. “It was a mix of Jack Del Rio leaving and Jon Gruden coming in,” Mack said of his departure from the Raiders.
He also recalled a warning from his agent about Gruden’s ability to sell him on staying. “My agent let me know, like, ‘Hey, Jon’s very good with his words so you might need to avoid all contact.’ He’s like, ‘Because I know you love football and if you talk to him and he’ll convince you to do something you probably will regret doing.”
For Mack, the hardest part wasn’t just the business side. It was the distance from the locker room and the routine that comes with being around teammates every day.
“It’s just the fact that I love football… and I love to be around my guys. And going through that process and not being there for OTAs and missing out on training camp… that whole process of not being with my guys, it was tough.
I feel like that was the hardest part of that process. Not being with your guys, with Derek Carr and my dudes, Bruce Irvin, Justin Ellis.”
The trade itself remains one of the most painful personnel decisions of the second Jon Gruden era. On September 1, it will be eight years since the Raiders sent Mack and a second-round pick to the Chicago Bears for two first-round picks.
Chicago got the better end of it, and that was clear long before the picks were spent. The Raiders did at least land Josh Jacobs, Damon Arnette and Bryan Edwards with the three selections they got from the Bears, but only Jacobs became a major hit. He went on to win an NFL rushing title, while Arnette and Edwards combined to appear in just 28 games for the Raiders.
For Raiders fans, the deal still leaves plenty of “what if” hanging in the air. The defense never really found its footing after losing Mack, finishing 24th or worse in scoring defense in all but one of the last eight seasons. And with Maxx Crosby becoming an elite edge rusher over his seven NFL seasons, it’s hard not to wonder what that pass rush might have looked like if Crosby and Mack had been wrecking game plans together all these years.
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