The Oakland Raiders traded away two of their supposed franchise cornerstones in Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper for three first-round picks. While the Bears and Cowboys have become playoff teams with the help of those two stars, the Raiders have had a disastrous debut season under Jon Gruden.
But despite the success of Chicago and Dallas (which has lowered the position of those picks down to the 20s), Raiders owner Mark Davis claims he does not regret making those deals. Although, he did admit he has kept a close eye on those two teams.
“Of course you watch it and everything but you don't have any control over what the other team is doing unless you play them,” Davis said per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. “We're not playing the Bears and we're not playing the Cowboys.”
Davis also cited former general manager Reggie McKenzie for delivering the deals which landed the two firsts for Mack and another for Cooper.
“It was all Reggie doing those deals,” he said. “He seemed really happy about it.”
While McKenzie was the man doing the negotiating, Cooper recently claimed that Davis — not Gruden nor McKenzie — was the man solely responsible for his trade away from Oakland.
The Raiders may have three extra first-rounders, which is a nice position to be in, but they will be hard-pressed to find players who are of Mack or Cooper’s quality, especially in the 20-range of the draft.
If they don’t deliver the goods on those picks, then the decision to trade Mack and Cooper will look even worse for Davis and the Raiders in the future.
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