We're coming up on the beginning of NFL training camp, which means we're almost a year removed from the arguably biggest storyline in the league being the Oakland Raiders' refusal to pay star edge rusher Khalil Mack top dollar, and then trading him to the Chicago Bears. Mack went on to have another terrific season, including a season-opener where he put on possibly the most dominant performance any defensive player had all year, notching three tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception, and a touchdown during a loss to the division rival Green Bay Packers.
If Packers CEO Mark Murphy had gotten his way, though, Mack would have been wearing a green-and-gold jersey that night, though, rather than suiting up for the Bears. The Packers attempted to land Mack as well, Murphy says, but the Raiders decided to send him to Chicago instead. The reason?
"Well, the whole Khalil Mack thing. It's not that we didn't try," Murphy said. "We were aggressive. We wanted to sign him. I think, ironically, the Raiders took the Bears' offer because they thought they would be a better draft pick."
Of course, that's not how things turned out. The Bears won the NFC North while the Packers missed the playoffs, and Oakland wound up with the No. 24 overall pick while the Packers selected at No. 12. Other factors could be at play of course, as there's no indication the Packers offered the exact same package of picks as did Chicago.
The Packers continued to aggressively remake their defense this offseason, shelling out top dollar for two different edge rushers (Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith) while also signing former Bears safety Adrian Amos and drafting Rashan Gary and Darnell Savage. There's no telling what they might have done had they landed Mack last year, but the Bears are surely happy not to live in a world where that happened.
