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In the weeks that have followed the Oakland Raiders' decision to move on from star defensive end Khalil Mack, there has been plenty of consistent chatter from head coach Jon Gruden about the Pro Bowler.
In a recent piece by Michael Silver of NFL.com, Gruden had voiced his surprise at Mack continuing his strong start to the year with his fourth strip sack of the year.
“Damn — Khalil Mack had another strip sack?” Gruden asked rhetorically, shaking his head at the Oakland Raiders assistant coaches in his midst. “Are you … kidding me?”
Mack has taken his game to the next level through the first four games of the season with the Chicago Bears having tallied up 5.0 sacks with four forced fumbles, 17 total tackles, and a forced fumble. He has been a huge piece of the puzzle defensively that has helped elevate the Bears to a 3-1 start to the 2018 campaign while playing like a bonafide Defensive Player of the Year candidate along ranking second in sacks and tied for the league lead with Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt with four forced fumbles.
The further along it goes for Mack away from the Raiders, the more his play continues to rise to occasions. It has increasingly made Oakland look more foolish deciding to move on from a generational talent in Mack, who had wanted to remain with the franchise for the long haul. Instead, the team chose to trade him because they didn't want to meet his contract demands that the Bears were more than willing to work out with him shortly after the trade.
Chicago now has in place a franchise cornerstone defensive player that could help anchor them over the next several years while Oakland could be left in the spot of having to continue to hope to find a talent that could one day replace him.
