The Raiders won’t see a return on trading Khalil Mack until next year at the earliest. The Chicago Bears gave up first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, a 2020 third-round pick and a 2019 second-round pick. The Raiders handed Mack over with a 2020 second-rounder and a conditional 202 fifth-round pick.
No players are coming back to help this year’s roster.
Those draft picks could help remake the Raiders in the long haul. So could the financial flexibility gained by not paying Mack crazy cash.
Head coach Jon Gruden will have tools at his disposal to vastly improve the Raiders.