The NFC North has been put on notice as the Chicago Bears have made an agreement to acquire pass rusher Khalil Mack from the Oakland Raiders, sources told Adam Schefter. The trade, made official later in the afternoon, has the Raiders receiving two first round picks (2019 and 2020), a 2020 third round pick and a 2019 sixth round pick. The Bears, on top of getting Mack, receive a 2020 second round pick and a conditional 2020 fifth round pick.
Moving Mack comes to no surprise as his holdout stretched to the end of preseason. The Raiders seemingly did not reach out to get the ball rolling on a new deal. This also comes after Aaron Donald signed an extension with the Los Angeles Rams, to briefly become the richest contract ever for a defensive player. The extension is good for six years, $141 million and $90 million guaranteed.
At 27-years-old, Mack has been widely known as one of the league’s premier rushers. Since coming into the league, he has posted 40.5 sacks in his first four seasons. Doing so has earned him three Pro Bowl selections, 2016 AP Defensive Players of the year and First Team All Pro selections, becoming the first player ever to be selected to two positions in 2015.
The Bears will now have a front seven including Mack, Akiem Hicks, Danny Trevathan and Sam Acho. The defense also recorded 42 sacks, good for seventh most in the NFL in 2017.
New head coach Jon Gruden and the Raiders will have to do with DE’s Bruce Irvin and Tank Carradine. In this past draft, they took defensive tackle P.J. Hall in the second round and defensive end Arden Key in the third. Both rookies are listed as second string to start the season.