Bears Go All In for Khalil Mack with Massive Trade, Extension
Rumors about Khalil Mack's future have been circling for quite some time now. Well, today, the rumors were silenced when the Raiders sent him to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a pair of 1st-round picks. This massive deal is the biggest trade that the NFL has seen in years. The complete trade is as follows:
Oakland receives a 2019 1st rounder, 2020 1st-rounder, 2020 3rd-rounder, and 2019 6th-rounder.
Chicago receives Khalil Mack, a 2020 2nd-rounder, and 2020 5th-rounder.
The Bears followed up the trade by immediately signing an extension. That extension is a 6-year deal worth $141 million, $90 million guaranteed. This makes Mack the highest paid defensive player in NFL history, passing Aaron Donald's 1-day-old record.
This extension combined with multiple 1st-round picks is certainly a heavy price to pay, but for Mack, it's worth it. Mack is arguably the best edge rusher in the game today. He's racked up 40.5 Sacks in four seasons in the league. All four of those years he made the Pro Bowl, making All-Pro in three of them, as well as winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2016. Adding him to an already solid defensive staff makes Chicago's defense something to be feared. This move also shows that the Bears are serious about contending right now. They aren't taking the cheap route and simply hoping all their draft picks pan out. They made an expensive, aggressive move to speed up the process and give the fans what they want. This is a nice change what we've often seen from upper management throughout the years.
Of course, this decision doesn't come without risk. No trade like this has ever been made for a defensive player. The last time a player was traded for two 1st-round picks was back in 2009. Bears fans should remember that well, as that was the trade that brought Jay Cutler to Chicago. So yeah, these trades don't always end well. As stated earlier, no defensive player has ever been payed more than the Bears have agreed to pay Mack, although Aaron Donald's contract is very close. If Mack suffers a big injury or starts am early career decline, it could handicap the team for years. They'd be left with a bunch a dead cap space, and a depleted draft for the next two years. Mack would become the biggest obstacle in their path to success.
However, I don't see it turning out this way. Mack has not missed a game due to injury yet, and he is right in the prime of his career at 27-years-old. I don't have any reason to believe an injury or decline is around the corner. Obviously anything can happen. It wouldn't be the first time that a star player's career slipped away in an instant, but it still isn't likely. If I am indeed right and he stays steady, they added a cornerstone piece to the franchise that could lead the defense for years. It is very unlikely that they could've gotten that much value from those picks.
Only time will tell what comes of this trade, but it could likely make or break this team's future, as well as that of Bears GM Ryan Pace. I sure am excited to see Mack in action, but I can assure you that Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and Kirk Cousins are not. And that makes me, the Bears, and all of Bears Nation very happy.
