Packers Pursued Khalil Mack Via Trade But Raiders Sent Him To Bears Instead In Hope Of Better Draft Pick
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Sending away a franchise player is never easy. For the Oakland Raiders, they knew it was time to reset when they sent powerhouse linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears last September.

Although the Raiders got a haul of picks from the Bears, including two first-round picks, perhaps there was a better offer out there. Although it was revealed last year the Los Angeles Rams were in the hunt for Mack, it has now come out that the Greenbay Packers strongly pursued him as well.

According to Mike Clemens of 105.7 The FAN, Packers CEO/President Mark Murphy was very interested in adding Mack to his roster, but explained why he thinks the Raiders ultimately traded him to the Bears instead:

“Well the whole Khalil Mack thing. It’s not that we didn’t try,” Murphy explained to The FAN’s Gary Ellerson live on The BIG SHOW from the Packers Hall of Fame Golf Outing at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms. “We were aggressive. We wanted to sign him. I think, ironically, the Raiders took the Bears offer because they thought they would be a better draft pick.”

The Bears 2019 first-round pick they sent to the Raiders ended up falling to the 24th spot, while the Packers’ first-round pick ended up in the 12th spot. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and if Mack were in Green Bay instead of Chicago, that could have affected both teams’ records.

That is especially the case considering the Packers had the 11th-worst defense in the NFL last season, while the Bears had the league’s best defense.

In a perfect world, getting the 12th overall pick over the 24th would have been a great move for the Raiders, but there is really no certainty of that. The Raiders still were able to add Josh Jacobs to their roster, and he has been one of the best rookies in the league so far this season.

The Raiders have a chance to put things into their own hands in Week 5 as they will be taking on Mack and the Bears in London. The own Chicago’s first-round pick in 2020 as well, so a win in this game could help make that a better pick while also moving Oakland to 3-2 on the season.

Meanwhile, Mack will be facing his former team for the first time so he certainly will be looking for revenge of sorts.