There’s been a lot of chatter from national media about the Raiders entertaining the idea of trading star Defensive End Khalil Mack, so let’s talk about it.
First of all, with the exception of a proven all-time great Quarterback that’s still somehow in his prime (Aaron Rodgers), there’s ALWAYS a price tag if you want to acquire a player. However, in the case of a player like Mack, the price tag is often just not feasible for any franchise who wants him.
What would be considered a respectable return if the Raiders were to trade a player like Khalil Mack?
First off, if I’m Reggie McKenzie and/or Jon Gruden, I hang up the phone immediately if the offer doesn’t start with six total draft picks. More specifically, I’ll need two 1st round picks, and four more picks that range from the 2nd to the 5th round. If they’re still on the phone, I’ll drop the final hammer: I’ll need their best young player, with the understandable exception of their Quarterback.
An example of that would be this hypothetical trade with the Green Bay Packers:
GB gets DE Khalil Mack
OAK gets two 1st round picks (2019 & 2020), two 2nd round picks (2019 & 2020), 1 3rd round pick (2019), 2 5th round picks (2019 & 2020), and DL Kenny Clark.
While the Packers have a crop of young talent, I went with the 22 year old second year defensive lineman, who is going into the third year of his rookie contract and is set to make a little over $1.3 million in 2018. You could easily swap this out for another young, talented player if you so choose.
This deal is a monster that would give Oakland an opportunity to have a couple of crazy draft weekends, ultimately giving the franchise an influx of young talent in a short period of time. I can already see the hours of mock drafting that us #TwitterGM warriors would put in.
Here’s the kicker: I STILL WOULDN’T DO IT.
No-freakin-way, man.
As a matter of fact, if any of you were reading this and thought that I would trade a walking Hall of Famer, then you have way more faith in the drafting ability of the Oakland Raiders than I do.
That’s not a shot at McKenzie or Gruden, but it’s realizing that draft picks are fun but elite players win football games. You’d be hoping and praying that you’d get 2-3 guys out of all of those picks that stick with your franchise and make a real difference on the field, all while you let the best player that’s played for your franchise in quite some time walk out the door and wear a gold jacket as a “Packer” 15 years from now.
At the end of the day, I think the Raiders will give Mack the extension he deserves, even if he has to wait a year. Until then, we’ll all have to just R-E-L-A-X.
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