Jon Gruden, Oakland Raiders. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Oakland Raiders want to improve their pass rush at the trade deadline. They want someone like, I don’t know, Khalil Mack, who they already traded.
Coming off their bye week and a win over the Chicago Bears in London two weeks ago, the Oakland Raiders want to be buyers at the 2019 NFL trade deadline. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, they are searching for linebackers and pass-rushing help.
Didn’t they have that heading into last season with Khalil Mack, now on the Chicago Bears?
Oakland traded Mack to Chicago before the start of the 2018 campaign. He was an instrumental piece on the vaunted Chicago defense a year ago and remains the best player on the entire Bears roster in 2019. Mack was the best pure talent the Raiders had in well over a decade. While they drafted well with the picks they got for him from Chicago, those players aren’t Mack.
The Raiders are a team that is certainly in the mix for a Wild Card spot in the AFC this year. They look to be clearly the second-best team in the AFC West. While the Kansas City Chiefs will have to tread water without quarterback Patrick Mahomes for at least a few weeks, the Raiders probably won’t catch Kansas City, no matter how well they play in October and early November.
The Silver and Black have played well thus far this season, but aren’t a championship contender at this point. They still have plenty to prove on the gridiron, especially on defense. While the offense is carrying this team, coveting a pass rusher like Mack a little over a year after dealing with him feels like the Raiders have a tinge of regret in dealing him to Chicago.
With a little over a week left before the trade deadline, it remains to be seen if the Raiders will land the pass rusher they covet to bolster their defense. If head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock want to get a deal done, then they’ll get a deal done. That being said, they won’t be getting anyone close to Mack on the trade market. They’ll have to settle for someone less.