Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has yet to coach in a regular-season game since coming to the Bay Area, but he’s already found himself caught up in a move that has drawn criticism from fans and analysts alike.
The Raiders agreed to trade Khalil Mack — who the team selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft — to the Bears on Saturday, in a blockbuster move. Chicago traded two first-round picks for Mack, and then signed him to a six-year, $141 million deal, which is a ridiculous amount of money, especially for a team that’s still in a rebuild, and isn’t ready to “win now.”
Still, it’s surprising that the Raiders let Mack go. And apparently, according to a report from an unnamed NFL executive: General manager Reggie McKenzie didn’t even want to trade the elite pass rusher.
From one team executive who spoke to Raiders about Mack, speaking of Reggie McKenzie: “It was crystal clear to me that Reggie didn’t want to trade Mack.”
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) September 1, 2018
If McKenzie didn’t approve the Mack trade, then it’s highly likely that it was Gruden. Who else could it have been? It seems like the Raiders organization’s way of appeasing the new head coach, who they made a long-term commitment to, in the form of a $100 million contract.
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