Khalil Mack reveals more on his issue with Jon Gruden after being traded
Former Oakland Raiders pass rusher Khalil Mack has found more success in the NFL and it happens to be with a division rival in the Los Angeles Chargers.
Mack has been traded three times in his NFL career, going from the Raiders to the Chicago Bears and then to the Chargers. But the first trade stings the most for Raiders fans as they watched a home-grown talent leave over a contract dispute. And it sounds like the center of that dispute was former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
During an appearance on the “Pardon My Take” podcast, Khalil Mack dove into his career including with the Raiders. He admitted that he doesn’t have any hate towards Mark Davis with what happened but instead it was with Gruden.
“Nah, it’s all love. It’s still all love with Mark,” Mack said. “Gruden. The Gruden guy, is the guy I probably had the biggest issue with.”
Prior to 2018, Khalil Mack was already a two-time All-Pro for the Raiders after being selected No. 5 overall in the 2014 NFL draft. He was seeking a new contract but with a new head coach coming in with Gruden, there was a bit of a dispute.
Gruden and Mack reportedly did not talk as the dispute went on. And after Mack was eventually traded to Chicago for a big haul of draft picks, Gruden even said it was clear that Mack didn’t want to play for the Raiders.
The two eventually did talk after the trade but Mack says there is still
“I talked to him a few times since then,” Mack said. “A few that were supposed to be private conversations but one of them was ‘Ah, you motherf****** won, you motherf******* the trade at the time.’ I knew we were going to play Oakland that next year, that year after 2018 when we were in London and he said ‘I’m going to send the house after your ass whenever we play.’ And he really did.”
“It was funny, it was funny interacting with home over the phone and kind of squashing the beef but not really. Because there will always be that same feeling every time I see those colors on the other side.”
What could have been for Khalil Mack and the Raiders
It’s clear that Mack was upset he was traded away from the franchise that drafted him. And how it all went down, he wasn’t a fan of. If he had his way, he likely stays with the Raiders and dominates for years to come.
The Raiders had a good young core with Khalil Mack, Derek Carr, and Amari Cooper. They reached the playoffs just once in that span, doing so in 2016 before losing to the Houston Texans. But it certainly felt like the future was extremely bright for the franchise.
But the trade of Mack signaled the end of that and even though the Raiders got a nice draft haul back, they really never capitalized on that. Gruden was also forced to resign a few years later and both Carr and Cooper also moved on from the franchise to different teams.
It is interesting to hear some of these former players discuss that era as well, including Khalil Mack who really hasn’t spoken on that much in his career. But it’s also a little depressing to hear what could have been resolved for what will be a Hall of Fame player.
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