Yes, the Chicago Bears have acquired Khalil Mack. Many of you think the Green Bay Packers blew it by not making that trade with the Oakland Raiders.
But let’s take an objective look at this.
First, the compensation.
The Bears got Mack, a 2020 second-round round pick and a conditional 2020 fifth-round pick. The Raiders got a 2019 first-round pick, 2020 first-round pick, 2020 third-round pick, 2019 sixth-round pick.
Could the Green Bay Packers have done something like that? Sure. But the Raiders are betting on the Bears sucking, which they do — it’s a song. The Packers are going to end up picking in the 20s next year, if not later. The second 2019 first-round pick the Packers own belongs to the Saints, who are also going to end up picking in that same range.
So do the Raiders want two picks in the 20s or potentially two picks in the top 15?
I don’t know. What would you want?
If you’re gaming this situation and you’re Jon Gruden and Reggie McKenzie, look at it this way. The Bears, who haven’t been relevant in years, play in a division with the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. And to a lesser degree, the Detroit Lions. As it currently stands, that’s a division with two Super Bowl contenders.
So, again. Whose picks would you rather have if you’re looking at potential records?
You’d rather have the picks from the team with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. Not the one with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
So now that that’s settled, the contract.
The Bears just made Mack the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. Six years, $141 million and $80 million guaranteed. The former number is more than Aaron Rodgers got in his extension. Rodgers got $134 million in new money.
Of course, the difference in the two deals is simple. Mack isn’t making more than Rodgers annually. Rodgers had two years, at around $20 million, on his previous deal before signing his extension. Mack was entering the final year of his rookie deal. That last year was not peanuts, but nowhere close to $20 million.
Overall, Rodgers’ average salary and guarantees are much larger than Mack’s. However, Mack got thrown more money overall in his extension. The Bears have a craptacular quarterback who’s in his second year. They’re not paying him that much. They can throw a ton of money at Khalil Mack. The Packers couldn’t compete with numbers like that.
Here are some other things to think about.
Khalil Mack is the fourth player to get traded after winning a Defensive Player of the Year award, along with Jason Taylor (traded in 2008), Pat Swilling (1993) and Keith Millard (1992), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2018
Taylor was traded to Washington in 2008. He had 29 tackles and 3.5 sacks in one season. He was released after that one season. Swilling was traded to the Lions in 1993. He lasted two seasons and totaled 64 tackles and 10 sacks.
I love this one. Millard was traded to the Seahawks in 1992. They waived him in September of that year and he was claimed by… the Green Bay Packers.
So all of those guys sucked — by any measure — total ass on the teams they were traded to.
Here’s another one. The only defensive players to be involved in a two first-round pick deal.
*In 1988, Seahawks traded LB Fredd Young to Colts for 2 first-round picks.
*In 1998, Panthers signed free-agent DT Sean Gilbert and gave two firsts to Washington as compensation.
*In 1988, Washington signed free-agent LB Wilber Marshall and gave Bears two firsts as compensation.— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2018
Fredd Young is credited with 21 career sacks. Two of them came with the Colts.
As for Sean Gilbert, I never really understood. He had one really good season with the Rams — 81 tackles and 10.5 sacks in 1993. That’s when he made his one and only Pro Bowl. When the Panthers signed him from Washington, he was coming off a 55-tackle, three-sack season.
With the Panthers he never had more than 39 tackles in a season or more than six sacks. Both came in his first season in Carolina.
Wilbur Marshall is the only guy listed above who was any good after getting flipped for two first-rounders. In fact, he was better in Washington than he was in Chicago, posting more than 100 tackles in all five of his seasons there.
Here are a few other things of note.
Another thing on Khalil Mack. The Bears once acquired another generational defensive player in Julius Peppers. How many Super Bowls did they win with him?
— Total Packers (@totalpackers) September 1, 2018
The answer is zero, of course. In fact, the Packers beat Peppers’ Bears in the NFC Championship game that would lead to their last Super Bowl triumph.
The Packers faced Mack during his best season in the midst of an offensive drought and still put up 30 points on the road. Bears fans thinking this somehow vaults them from last place to first place are fucking delusional.
— Jackson Kesy (@JacksonKesy) September 1, 2018
This was 2015, when Mack won Defensive Player of the Year and had 15 sacks. It was also the year Olivia Munn sucked the life and passing ability out of Aaron Rodgers. He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. The Packers put up 30, won 30-20. Mack had two tackles, one being a sack. Didn’t exactly dominate the game.
And here’s my favorite thing to point out.
Last time the @ChicagoBears sent two first-round picks (and Neck Beard and a third-round pick) to another team for a player? Our main man, Jay Cutler. CUTTY!
— Total Packers (@totalpackers) September 1, 2018
CUTTY!
Great moments in Chicago Bears history. Great moments.
Lastly, the 2017 Oakland Raiders went 6-10 with Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and yes, Khalil Mack.
Packers fans, stop being pissed off. Bears fans…
STOP FREAKING OUT. THE PACKERS HAVE NO CHANCE OF GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL.
Yes, we know the Bears picks will be higher picks most likely. That is NOT the only thing a team will base a trade off of, is it? There are other ways to make trades, if draft slotting isn’t your leverage, then you find your leverage and use it. Good sales people don’t just quit and walk away after hearing no do they? Of course not, they find the objection and they overcome it. There are far more facets to a trade getting done than anticipated draft slotting.
I was gone most of the afternoon, but i haven’t heard or read anything credible that the Packers were seriously in this thing.
Yes, we know Mack cost money, we get it. But the thing is, to sign Mack, maybe you right a couple wrongs you’ve made in the past while getting a defensive stud creating mayhem on your defense. In other words….MOVE FORWARD, don’t stagnate in your same usual shit. Besides, in a year or two the money works itself out in a few various ways. In the meantime, you have the ingredients to build a Champion
History has shown us that you need a power presence on offense (Favre/Rodgers) and on defense (White/Woodson) to win Championships. That’s what the serious fans of Packer Nation wanted. Rodgers can’t do it alone. Haven’t we learned that yet?
Now that Mack is no longer available, i ask you this Joseph….Who is our power presence on defense?
Take your time, but please….no “if’s”.
Let’s just see how good the Packers defense is thjs year and what the next excuse will be. What a dumb team. They let their best receiver walk to the Raiders and hold on to a guy named Matthews who so obviously isn’t taking HGH anymore since he sucks now. He can’t even play softball without getting hurt. Where is Kevin king? Hurt as usual. Still. They passed on Watt who had a great rookie season. Passed on Myles Jack(pro bowler)and chose Kenny Clark instead(4.5 sacks in two years). It’s time to stop making excuses for an organization who doesn’t know the first thing about building a defense. Murphy will.waste the remaining years of Rodgers talent and go down in history as an idiot as he should. Gute is a cookie cutter GM who doesn’t have his own idea or skills. If he did Quentin Rollins wouldn’t be on that team anymore. Wonder how many TD’s he will gone up this year? This defense is even worse off than last year. Now I see I was wrong about Capers. It wasn’t his doing. It’s this teams inability to draft good solid defensive players. They just drafted two solid defenders years into Rodgers campaign. Way too late. Why haven’t they drafted a first round outside linebacker? It will be the difference this year. Have fun watching Morrison and Greer Martini(lol) fall on his face. Could have signed Navaro Bowman. At least he can tackle and play coverage. Another wasted year for Rodgers. At least Bears have the brains to draft good linebackers. Roquan Smith, Khalil Mack. Packers still depending on Nick”Glass”Perry and washed up Matthews.
“He can’t even play softball without getting hurt.”
Oh but I am certain an internet tough guy such as yourself could withstand a line drive to the face and walk away unscathed. LOL. What a dumb troll. Many of us already know the shit you are spewing, bring something new and original to the table. Put some effort into it man!
I don’t know for which team you are trolling, but I can pretty much guarantee your season probably isn’t going to work out the way you think it will here on the eve of the regular season. You know, being your team is so smart and all! Packer fans aren’t the only ones who count preseason hype as a Super Bowl victory it would seem. But you be sure and let us know how that works out for you because I am certain in the mind of a troll like yourself, 2-14 as long as those wins are against the Packers is success at its finest! What’s that like for the Packers to be in your head so deep you feel compelled to go to other team sites and talk shit, friend? LOL!
Yea…lol
I was thinking the same thing as i was reading that post. Sometimes you can’t disguise a POS, because um, well…it’s still a POS.
“This was 2015, when Mack won Defensive Player of the Year and had 15 sacks. It was also the year Olivia Munn sucked the life and passing ability out of Aaron Rodgers. He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”
Was that the down year Rodgers had when he threw for 31 td’s and 8 picks? Almost 4:1 td/int ratio.
Here’s whats funny, and pathetic about that comment above. Rodgers worst year, is in comparison, a career year for Brett Favre. Think about it Cooter.
There are many things to like about Mack as a player. I would have liked to see the Packers get Mack the football player.
There is one thing I do not like about Mack. Mack held out while he was under contract. It has worked out very well for Mack financially. It shows Mack could give a shit about his Oakland teammates. You can call it a business decision, however how many business decisions is Mack going to make that will adversely affect his new teammates. He already screwed his old teammates over in Oakland to further his business interests, hopefully Mack does the same to his new teammates.
it is important to remember that if Mack sacks our qb, he is also likely sacking the qbs of our tougher division rivals two games a yr, the vikes and the lions.
So, welcome to the NFC North KM.
You will help our Packers by doing your job
I suspect he was thinking career longevity and joy in the game by joining a D which ranked top 5 in 2017….
Bears and Queens have made their already impressive Ds stronger in off-season deals and draft.
Health and motivation of GB O-line is huge factor!!!! I’m not optimistic they’ve gotten any better – or are even as “good” as last year….
I see 4 games in 2018 that QB$$$ hopefully can finish uninjured…
I’m sure our friends on the Midway are using the collarbone break video as motivation in training room…
Ask Philly about that Bud Grant philosophy. Doug Pederson ripped them a new one. Its the Quarterbacks league, now. The only thing holding back the Pack is Mac Carthy’s coaching
Good point… So we need to be more worried about Cousins and Stafford ….?
You’re supposed to make me feel better about the upcoming season dude !
Benefits:
1.) Bears have mortgaged their future in terms of draft picks for the next 2 years. That is a HUGE blow
2.) Bears take the cap hit, not the Packers
3.) Mack doesn’t know the Bears’ defense yet & may not be a real factor by September 9
4.) Mack will also be trying to chase Stafford & Cousins too
5.) The Packers still have 2 first rounder next season which carry those 5th year options
6.) Mack is 27, rookies are cheaper & typically 22
7.) Mack will have vacations in January ;)
The the that bothered me before the trade, the thing I was worried about if the Packers signed him, was that Mack has not been spectacular the last two years.
He’s not Chandler Jones. He’s not JJ Watt. He’s not Von Miller. He wasn’t even in the 10 ten for sacks the last year. He and Nick Perry were tied for sacks the year before that.
The Bears mortgaged their future on a good but not spectacular player. It almost seems like the Bears did this just to keep him out of the Packers hands.
I saw that too. Not saying numbers are everything. Macks stats from his first four years are similar to Matthews first four years., sack-wise anyway. Matthews has fallen off since then and the market was definitely different, but I couldn’t imagine paying him $22 mil a year. He’s overpaid now at $14mil. Then again Mack went all pro at two different positions in the same year. Where he goes moving forward has yet to be seen. It’s hard for me to speak on Mack because I don’t watch the Raiders. All I have to go with are stats and media hype. Having Mack would have been a great addition obviously, but not having to pay that contract is great as well. Obviously Khalil is more concerned with money than winning otherwise why the hell would he go to Chicago.
Have you not watched this guy play? Stats dont tell the whole story. He is probably the best front seven defensive football player I have watched this decade. Yes, better than Aaron Donald
“It’s hard for me to speak on Mack because I don’t watch the Raiders.”
“Not saying numbers are everything”
And no, I don’t watch the Rams so I couldn’t tell you anything about Aaron Donald either. Maybe this is a good thing so I don’t get extra disappointed that the Packers didn’t pick up Mack. Regardless, what’s done is done and the only thing I can do about it is watch. Green Bay definitely needs an upgrade at the OLB position though, sooner rather than later.
Cheese that was in response to Deepsky
Right on, I need to stop being so vain.
Sorry I wasn’t clear
Good article. One needs to realize that in every draft true first round talent stops at around picks 18-20. In reality Green Bay was offering two second graded picks.
The contract is crazy – QB money. We have guys to extend in the future – Clark, Martinez, Jackson, Alexander, Burks.
Thirdly, this cat ain’t Reggie.
But, I could be proven to be completely wrong and an idiot.
How the hell do we know that we need to extend Alexander, Jackson, and Burks? Lmao they haven’t even played a down in a meaningful game
TotalPackers could easily be named WillfullyIgnorantPackerfans.
One guy doesn’t like Mack because he held out. Another one downplays his ability because he only got 10 sacks each of the last two years. Another one provides an entire list of pro-Packers/anti-Mack reasons for it being bad for the Bears and good for the Packers.
Nobody is smart – or honest enough – to acknowledge that Mack is joining a much better defense than he has played with the last two years.
Nobody here knows, or if they do seems to care, that the entire Bears defense -which had 42 sacks to GB’s 37 last year – had 105 official hurries last year while Mack by himself had 77. What that mostly means is that he had insufficient help in pressuring the QB from his teammates who managed just 21 sacks between all of them.
But go ahead and keep your heads in the sand and hope that Mack is too dumb to be able to learn Fangio’s scheme, which for him will be just lining up anywhere he is told and getting to Rodgers.
BTW, dummies, Mack is considered to be at least as good against the run as he is rushing the passer.
You make some valid points about his new supporting cast, so that is the good news for you. I also agree Mack is more of a factor than what a lot of fans portray. The bad news is that you gave up a clone Cutler trade to get him, and we know how well that worked out for you.
Here’s the problem so far. You don’t have a QB yet. Sure, give him time, i get it. But meanwhile he sits ranked with the worst QB’s in the league. The bears jumped the gun on Mack. IF….IF Trubisky develops, this is a trade to be made 2 or 3 years from now when you might be one piece away.
What i’m saying is, the Mack signing for the bears was foolish. The bears think tank must be banking on Trubisky being a top 10 QB very soon. But i’ve seen him play and i’ll believe it when i see it. You gave up the same picks for Cutler, and you had a damn good defense at the time. Plus Cutler was 4 times the QB Trubisky is, and you still couldn’t win then. The Bears are going nowhere with Mack until they find a QB imo.
After years (decades) of hibernation…the Yogi’s are coming out once again puffing out there chest because of the Mack signing….love it : )
The 2018 season’s entertainment is about to begin.
Wow, talk about not having a clue! I hate the Bears more than anyone but this trade makes them relevant again. Miller was a steal in the draft. Great RBs. Their OL is shaky but GB has no depth on the OL. The Bear D was adequate before the trade now they are a good D. Trying to spin this as not being disastrous for GB will take a lot more work. Game 1 was a cake walk, not any more. I’m hoping after skipping camp, Mack tears a hammy early in game 1.
Are you serious?
“Great RBs” ???
A good D? Their D sucks even with Mack … & they have Tribustky as a QB… What NFL are you watching??
How does it feel being a moron? You should learn the game of football before embarrassing yourself commenting on it.
With all of the “Mack” bs still going around, let’s switch our focus onto getting a decent backup O lineman. Why has Green Bay not signed Jahri Evans? He actually was a very good stop gap last year, he even stated at his “exit” meeting with the Buffoon that he was looking forward to coming back. Buffoon even said that it was a good possibility. I thought he did an admirable job last year. PFF graded him positively. McCray is NOT showing much . . . Once again, the Buffoon is playing the wrong people. The Packers should have kept J. Evans on the roster until a REAL O lineman replacement was found . . .
The problem is….this isn’t the time of year where you can start plucking decent back up talent out of thin air, or from other teams roster cut downs. Teams don’t usually release O-lineman that have shown them any potential talent.
But as far as Evans, that you nailed.
My expectations of the Packers haven’t been elevated, not when most pieces and people involved are still in the building. Can they improve given more years? Sure they can, and when i see it, i’ll acknowledge it.
I’m not going to wish injury on anyone. As far as the Bears, where are they going? Yes they got Mack, but they also have Trubisky. Trubisky hasn’t proven he can be an effective starting QB in this league at all yet, and until he does i’m hardly concerned about the Bears, even with Mack.
Now the queens are another story. If the Packers make it to the playoffs, there is better than a 50% chance it will be through the wild card. Although the queens seemed to be cursed of any real success in past years, their team might be strong enough now to overcome that.
Now…the Packers….Here we are again, a new season, a fresh start. But once again….relying on a rookie draft class and players who had a good year some time ago, plus a free agent looking to be re-born to past glory with our new Def. Coordinator. A legit tight end years ago, looking to once again finding that magic, and with Rodgers, he just might. But at the expense of losing Jordy. Lets not even get into the O-line and linebackers and our new defensive play calling safety.
I suppose i could raise the level of optimism in my post and go through an hours worth of “IF” scenario’s. But i’ll let the dreamer segment of Packer Nation handle all that.
So i ask you fine Packer fans……is this Green Bay Packer team ready to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy this season?
Question:
Before the new contract, there was 2 years remaining in Aaron Rodgers contract plus 2 more with the franchise tag.
The money saved in that case could have been used to sign Mack?
The Packers could have signed Mack regardless. They’d have to make some moves, but some of those moves should have been made already anyway.
If the Packers felt they couldn’t afford Mack, they wouldn’t be trying to trade for him in the first place..
Now let me ask you, would it be ok if your employer took money out of your check, so they could use it to pay a new employee?
“…would it be ok if your employer took money out of your check, so they could use it to pay a new employee?” Well, Tom Brady accepted that more than once, to allow the Patriots to build a better team…
i wasn’t asking Tom Brady that question.
Plus, if Aaron Rodgers was actually with a team that was competent in how they spend money and make the right moves to build a Championship team, he may have accepted less also.
Correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t what the Patriots and Brady essentially doing is pushing his cap hits off into years after he retires?
I’m not sure Kato, but when it comes to Brady, they have a great imagination. You see terms like restructure bonus’s, “miscellaneous”, salary advances (like he needs the money to live?) lol, doubtful.
Remember back in 2016 when deflate gate was going on? Well, in March the Patriots redid his deal, in April the NFL handed down the 4 game suspension. Well, so he lost 4 game checks. Well….guess what, part of the restructure of Brady’s contract gave him a $764,00 salary. He lost 200 and some thousand. So other than that, i don’t know. Maybe they deferred 80 million until the year 2040. I wouldn’t put anything by them.
I am not sure what Gutekunst was thinking here. I wanted to wait till details on the deal came out before making a rash judgement. The bears essentially gave up one draft pick while moving down maybe 20-25 draft slots in the following year (first to second round). And then some swapping of late round picks. I think that is hardly something to balk at. How many times have the packers traded back out of the first round? I am sorry, Gutekunst dropped the ball here. Yeah, it is entirely possible that the packers still wouldn’t have achieved the ultimate goal. They would have had to in order for this to be worth it. Because this team would be in salary cap hell in a couple years. Free agency wouldnt be an option.
In 2 years the cap is projected to be 200 million.
This year we have 24 million in cap space used up by Cobb and Mathews, that will be gone next spring i’d imagine, or reduced significantly. Martellus Bennett is costing the Packers 4.2 million in cap space…..this season.
Even still, in 2019 we are projected to have 39 million and some change under the cap. That is with Perry and and Bakhtiari cap going up 7 million. And also with Graham’s cap number more than doubling next season to 12.6 million (yea, he better be good).
Plus they could actually gain 6.7 million by releasing Bulaga, which may happen. Bringing the Packers about 46 million under the cap for 2019.
Also in 2020 the Packers are projected to be 73 million under the cap.
Yes, i know draft classes have to be signed and some players. But this isn’t exactly salary cap hell.
We also could dump Perry in 2020, but he’d still have a dead cap number of 7.4 million. Courtesy of the lottery ticket that TT and Russ Ball handed to him. But fuck it, he had 11 sacks….once…PAY THE MAN!!!
The stank is still in the building.
Hahaha yeah. Next year, 39 million sounds good, but would probably have to figure on at least 24 million of that money being allotted to Mack, which takes it down to $15 million. Figure maybe 4 million for the draft class, depending on which first rounder they traded, or if they just traded both. $11 million isnt a ton of wiggle room, but they could probably sign a couple depth guys for sure. Yeah Bulaga could be cut if he has another injury plagued year, but I would want that as a last resort. Last thing the packers need is another question mark on the offensive line. I would expect them to use a pick early next year on offensive tackle. Hopefully it goes better than the last flaming bag of dog poo. Either way, I still think Mack was the way to go, and that this was a mistake.
PF4L on another note I was just looking at over the cap for 2020, and LOL Jaguars. They have an effective cap space of $7 million. In 2020. They will be having some cap casualties. In contrast, the packers have $60 million available in space
Well, but what team you consider more playoff ready / win now mode? The Packers or the Jaguars?