For all his considerable charm, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has a way of being rather disingenuous when dismissing things that have been talked about ad nauseam. Make no mistake, he holds all the meaningful cards in terms of whether holdout defensive end Khalil Mack receives a long-term extension or is traded to another team.
It’s Jon Gruden’s call on whether to extend Khalil Mack’s contract or trade away his star player
Reggie McKenzie, Mark Davis taking backseat to Raiders head coach with all football operations
Gruden and the Raiders hold all the power. Mack, if he’s a no show, forfeits his paychecks. Raiders don’t have to trade him either.
The question for the Raiders, and Gruden, do they want nearly $50M in payroll allocated to two players? No other team has this. The people yelling “just pay the man” are those in the cheap seats. If Mack signs, and Raiders unable to sign FAs or retain talent, those same people will be criticizing the Raiders.
I don’t blame Mack.
I don’t blame the Raiders.
Both have legitimate positions. Who will blink first? I think it will be Mack. I still believe Mack will be back next week.
Solid points, as usual, Ghost. Mack won’t blink first. As for when he might return, stay tuned. The issue is, they have $100 million tied up in their top nine or 10-salaries players. They can afford both, but it would make it far more difficult to be aggressive in free agency next season. It’s a difficult situation for the Raiders, but they have to bite hard and pay Mack, if for no other reason than you don’t get a player as talented as Mack on your roster very often.
Mack will blink before the Raiders do
Need Mack back. That’s the bottom line. I don’t care who blinks first, so long as it happens soon. He’s not just a good player, he’s a generational player. And the sooner you pay him, the less it will cost you.
I think a lot of the issue has to deal with the agent he’s notorious for having his players sitting out until they get their contracts and on the other hand you have the Raiders who are principled in not dealing with players unless they are in the building. If Mack would have showed up in the off season I bet this wouldn’t even be a conversation right now because he would already have his extension. Another thing to consider is that the Raiders are not only going to have to deal with this situation on a player this year but next year as well. Because in case you missed it Mack’s agent and Cooper’s agent are the same guy Joe Segal and this is how he conducts business with top players don’t believe me think Justin Houston, trumane Johnson and now Mack. In summary agents are lawyers in the end they screw everything up just look what they do in politics none of us should be surprised
We have all talked about this for months.
The team and fans want Mack on the field.
Mack is getting $13 million + or so this season. Not exactly chump change to most of us.
Mark’s franchise being valued in the billion + dollar range now, he has little to no excuse for paying Mack what he is worth.
That’s where it sits.
How does Mack have leverage? If he sits he is fined. Is he going to sit all year? If so what happens for next year? Will this year count on his contract? Is he still a free agent if he does sit? I truly am asking.