Throughout the offseason, the Bears have added talent on both sides of the ball, but the acquisition of Mack is certainly their crowning achievement of this offseason and beyond.
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Chicago ended up presenting the best offer, and the aggressive trade turns a budding, young defense under Bears coordinator Vic Fangio into a potentially great one. The teams also exchanged draft picks, with the Raiders getting the Bears’ first-round picks in 2019 and 2020.
Oakland gets first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, a third-round pick in 2020 and a sixth-rounder in 2019 from the Bears.
Make no mistake: The price tag for acquiring Mack will be steep, from draft picks to an eventual extension that figures to be in the neighborhood of the one Aaron Donald just agreed to with the Rams, which includes million in guarantees.
Mack was to make $13.846 million this season under the fifth-year option in his rookie contract previously exercised by the Raiders.
Throughout the last several months, there has been a lack of any chatter from the Raiders about working out a deal with the 27-year-old. Not in a league in which drafting good players and then developing and keeping them always has been the surest path to success. I don’t remember him having too much of an impact against us in the past.
Still, it’s surprising that the Raiders let Mack go. They are transitioning their team to Las Vegas in less than a year’s time, and now they’re not going to have their superstar defensive player going with them. Acquiring Khalil Mack at 27, in the prime of his career – 40.5 sacks in four National Football League seasons, including 36.5 in his last three seasons – gives the Bears an even better chance for an even bigger payoff.
Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie drafted Mack in the first round (fifth overall) in 2014.
“This is the sucky part of this business”.
11 of the Kansas City Chiefs is rushed by KhalilMack No. 52 of the Oakland Raiders at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on October 19, 2017 in Oakland, California. “#RaiderNation we feel your pain trust me but we need you next Monday night!”
The star outside linebacker, who has been holding out throughout training camp, with the regular season starting in a week, is being traded from Oakland to Chicago. Irvin tweeted Saturday morning. Because superstar Khalil Mack has been traded away from the AFC West.
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The move to cut Bryant came on a busy day Saturday for the Raiders as they reduced their roster to 53 players. He’ll be eligible to the Raiders’ active roster on October 1.
