Full Impact of Raiders Khalil Mack Trade to be Realized
It won't be long before the second anniversary of the then Oakland Raiders trading All-Pro pass rusher Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears. With the 2020 NFL Draft now complete, the point has finally culminated where the Raiders side of the deal can start to be thoroughly examined under a microscope and evaluated.
The Raiders received the Bears' 2019 and 2020 first-round picks, a sixth-round pick in 2019, and a third-round pick in 2020 for Mack, the Raiders' 2020 second-round pick and a conditional 2020 fifth-round pick that turned into a seventh-round pick. The Raiders now have no more ammunition left from the trade.
To fully judge the trade, it will be the players picked that determine if it's a success, but the early signs are favorable for the silver and black. As one of the first moves for Coach Jon Gruden, it was an early gamble, but isn't that what Las Vegas stands four foundationally?
That's what happens when in the first year of a new regime in charge, the decision culminates to trading the team's best player and maybe the best the Raiders have had in a decade at least.
Including the return in the trade for Amari Cooper, the Raiders have had five first-round picks over the last two drafts. With those selections, they took Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs, and Johnathan Abram last year, and Henry Ruggs and Damon Arnette this year.
With these players, the Raiders are trending upward, giving them a chance to become contenders. This early in the Raiders return, that is a major positive.
Mack showed in his first season in Chicago that he was capable of being a franchise-changing talent. But when Gruden arrived, the Raiders needed to rebuild many places on the roster. That is why trading a great player like Mack gave them the collateral to plug multiple holes.
With Ruggs and Arnette yet to hit the field and Jacobs the first one to show pro bowl potential from last year's crop, it is still early for Gruden and the Raiders to say their decision paid off, but being in Vegas, the odds are in their favor.
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