Well, well, well..
The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly reached out to the Chicago Bears top see whether they could bring back superstar pass rusher Khalil Mack back to the organization after trading him to Chicago back in 2018.
Vic Tafur of The Athletic reported Monday the Raiders “made a phone call” to the Bears in March to see whether Mack could be available for another blockbuster trade between the teams, but Chicago was “not interested” in the idea.
The Raiders, who were in Oakland at the time, selected Mack with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft out of the University of Buffalo. Mack spent four seasons in Oakland, winning the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year award. When the Raiders brought back Jon Gruden to run the ship, Mack was in the midst of a contract dispute.
Although speculation emerged Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who was hired in 2018, didn’t want Mack, team owner Mark Davis said that wasn’t the case and it was simply a situation where the team couldn’t afford to give the linebacker the six-year, $141 million deal he ultimately got from Chicago.
“Jon wanted him. Everybody thinks that Jon’s the one who wanted to get rid of him. Jon wanted him badly,” Davis told ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez in 2018:
“Why wouldn’t you want this guy? [Former general manager] Reggie [McKenzie] wanted him badly. And I wanted him badly, too.”
Nonetheless, the Bears weren’t interested in dealing Mack and the Raiders settled for signing free agent pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue to a two-year, $26 million contract.
