Oakland Raiders: A few points to help cope with grief in a post-Mack world

Why Trade Him Now?

One of the most persistent questions that have been spawned by the trade is simple – why now?

It’s an understandable question, given that he has one year left on his rookie deal, plus at least two more if the Raiders wanted to play the ever-escalating franchise tag dance with the superstar defensive end. So, knowing they could have kept Mack at an affordable rate for the next three seasons, why was there such a rush to jettison him now?

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The answer to that question is two-pronged. The first prong is that Mack’s trade value would have never been higher than it was when the deal was made. The Raiders wanted two first-round picks for him – a gaudy price to pay in its own right – and Chicago ponied up.

Had the Raiders opted to wait, just like the minute you drive a new car off the lot, Mack’s value would have begun depreciating immediately. Suppose he’d suffered a significant injury on the field? Had that happened, do you think Chicago – or anybody – would have given Oakland two first-rounders for him? Probably not.

Also, had the Raiders opted to do the franchise tag dance with Mack next season, other teams, knowing the price goes up every season they tag him, and knowing they would have to just sit and wait a season, maybe two, may have been content to bide their time.

By the time the Raiders and Mack were done doing the franchise tag dance, he would have been twenty-nine, maybe thirty when he hit free agency, and would still have plenty of years of productivity left. Teams would know this, and could have been content to sit and wait, opting to play the long game.

The Bears want to win, and they want to win now. With a potential franchise quarterback on their roster – on his rookie deal – they could afford to give Mack that mind-boggling contract.

Whether it was Jon Gruden or Reggie McKenzie pulling the strings, as unpalatable as it is to think about, they took advantage of Chicago’s impatience, and got max value for a guy they knew they’d likely eventually be parting ways with.

The second prong of the answer is even more simple – sometimes, you just need to rip the Band-Aid off quickly. Just yank it off. Had this situation been allowed to linger, and continue to fester, it very likely would have become a distraction, with constant speculation, and even more constant questions from the media about it to his teammates.

The shock of the deal, as the season looms, allows players to absorb it, process it, and move forward from it, before the games start to count. It’s no longer going to be a festering, rotting wound all year. It’s been cauterized, and the healing can begin.

One thing to keep in mind, is that the Raiders will now have two first-round picks in each of the next two Drafts. If they can hit on those picks, that will help the healing move along a lot faster.