Khalil Mack continues to stay away from the Oakland Raiders as he waits for a new contract, and many are wondering what will become of his lengthy holdout when the regular season begins. According to one report, it will almost certainly continue if a new deal is not in place.
Players rarely sit out regular season games, and Mack is set to make more than $13 million this season. That means he would be forfeiting nearly $1 million for every game he misses, but Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that there is “no way” Mack will be with the Raiders when the season begins if the team does not at least engage him in “legitimate” contract talks.
“I can’t tell you if he is there in late September or sometime in October or maybe at midseason in November, but, after getting a feel for how disrespected, underappreciated and angry the former first-round pick is with the way this situation has unfolded, and Mack having proved his mettle by racking up over $1.6M in fines from missed preseason games and practices to this point, there is no way in heck I can foresee a scenario in which Mack reports the way Aaron Donald did in 2017 and shows up right before Week 1” La Canfora wrote.
There have been several indications that things between Mack and the Raiders have gotten ugly, most notably that he has not even spoken with new head coach Jon Gruden since Gruden was hired. The former No. 5 overall pick has 36.5 sacks over the past three seasons and is arguably the most important defensive player in football, but some have wondered if the Raiders could consider trading him. If the two sides stand no chance of coming to a long-term agreement, that may not be the worst idea.
