Explaining Khalil Mack's beef with Raiders, Jon Gruden ahead of Bears' showdown in London
Week 5 in the NFL is one of the several chances this season we get to see a little attempt at revenge, with Chicago Bears pass rusher Khalil Mack headed to London to face his former team, the Oakland Raiders.
Mack played four seasons with the Raiders from 2014-17, after the team took him with the No. 5 overall selection in the 2014 NFL draft. But after contract negotiations soured before the 2018 season, Mack — one of the top defensive players in all of football — eventually found a new home.
Here’s a brief recap of how everything went down.
April-June 2018
Mack was set to play on his fifth-year option that would have paid him $13.8 million for the 2018 season, but in an attempt to maximize his leverage to pursue a long-term contract, he did not report to the entire voluntary offseason workout program.
June 12, 2018
When the Raiders underwent a mandatory three-day minicamp in June, Mack, again, was a no-show.
“One of the big reasons I came here was to coach that man,” coach Jon Gruden said then. “But I don’t want to speculate. There’s a lot of guys in the league, several players that are in a similar situation. We’re just trying to resolve it as soon as possible, and in the meantime coach the players that are here.”
August 30, 2018
Mack also failed to report for training camp at the end of July and held firm to his holdout. It lasted more than a month.
With the Mack holdout approaching the 2018 regular season and no end in sight, the linebacker gave an indication that he was still thinking about football. In response to a tweet that showcased a highlight from Mack on the field, he responded with three words: “I miss it.”
September 1, 2018
The Raiders shopped Mack around, eventually finding a trading partner in the Bears in a deal completed eight days before the start of the season. Chicago sent first-round selections in the 2019 and 2020 drafts, a third-round pick in 2020, and a sixth-round selection in 2019. In addition to Mack, the Bears also got a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional fifth-rounder.
Just hours after the trade went down, Mack and the Bears agreed to a six-year, $141 million contract.
The deal included $90 million guaranteed and a $60 million signing bonus, which made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.
“I’ve always thought of myself as the best defensive player in the league, and I want to play like the best defensive player in the league,” Mack said during the press conference to announce the deal. “I want to be the best at what I do, and that’s just me. That’s what comes with Mack.”
The Mack trade was just the beginning, as Oakland underwent a transition. A couple of months later, in October, the Raiders also traded receiver Amari Cooper to the Cowboys for a first-round selection.
"It was a tough year," Gruden said to NFL Network. "No doubt. For the fans, for the players, for the coaches and for me. But necessary. It was something we had to get through, and we got through, and we're excited about the future."
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2018 regular season
Without Mack, the Raider pass rush was woefully ineffective in 2018. The team was dead last in sacks, generating only 13, which was 17 fewer than the next closest team, the Giants, with 30. Mack, meanwhile, earned his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl nod and third All-Pro selection by recording 12 1/2 sacks for Chicago's stingy defense.
Week 5, 2019
With preparations for the Bears-Raiders matchup gearing up, the comments and bad blood didn’t completely dissipate. While Gruden didn’t want to get into details, he continued to hint that the blame should fall on Mack for the failed relationship in Oakland.
"I'm not going to get into all the drama," Gruden said this week, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "We wanted to sign Mack, OK? We didn't want to trade him. I wish him the best. I'm not re-hashing all the drama. We wanted to have him. We couldn't make it happen."
Mack, on the other hand, tried to deflect questions about playing for revenge. But eventually, he conceded that Sunday’s game means a little more.
"You could say I'm suppressing the emotional side," Mack confessed. "But the other side is to go out and make them pay for it."
Follow Paste BN Sports' Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.
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