#MackAndCheese would be game-changer in Green Bay

Posted on August 13, 2018

By MARQUES EVERSOLL

Khalil Mack is a 27-year-old, two-time first-team All-Pro, who was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year just two years ago. He has never missed a game since the Oakland Raiders picked him with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and racked up 36.5 sacks in his last three seasons.

There are no red flags. He just wants to get paid.

So far, the Raiders have been unwilling to come to an agreement with Mack on a long-term extension. He’s set to make roughly $13.8 million this season on his fifth-year option, but when training camp began ESPN reported that Mack had yet to even speak with $100 million head coach Jon Gruden. The Raiders remain hopeful that Mack will show up at training camp, as we’re now inside a month to the start of the regular season.

For the Raiders — who will move from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020 — hope that the “bookies” are wrong on Mack. As things stand right now, the Raiders are considered the underdog to retain Mack by the time the league’s trade deadline moves around.

Now, despite the odds being in the Packers’ “favor,” a move of this magnitude still feels like a long-shot. Players of Mack’s caliber don’t leave their team, mostly because their team will pay the price to keep him. But the Packers’ have something no other NFL team has — two first-round picks in next year’s draft. If the situation between Mack and the Raiders doesn’t improve, and the team decides to move on, then a package that includes multiple first-round picks would be amongst their best-case scenarios.

If the Green Bay Packers are confident that they can work out a deal with Mack, then general manager Brian Gutekunst may have a gold (and green) opportunity to do his best Ron Wolf impression and land his “Reggie White.”

Of course, under NFL rules, Gutekunst can’t comment directly on the possibility of adding a player on another team. Although Gutekunst addressed a question last week as to whether he’d give Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie a call about Mack.

“I would give Reggie a call anyway, whether he was or wasn’t (available),” Gutekunst said. “But I think you guys (know) since I’ve been up here, we’re going to kind of have conversations about everything. You know, there’s some things that don’t make sense for us as a team-building thing, but we’re going to have conversations, especially with a player of that ability.”

Gutekunst has already injected the roster with a fresh approach. He added two of the top cornerbacks in the draft in Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson, signed veteran tight ends Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis, brought in Muhammad Wilkerson, brought back cornerback Tramon Williams, and pulled off a trade for backup quarterback DeShone Kizer. On paper, Gutekunst took the list of the Packers’ perceived offseason needs, and crossed each one of them off with a Sharpie … expect for outside pass rush. Nick Perry has yet to practice in training camp, and the team is currently relying on the likes of Reggie Gilbert, Vince Biegel and Kyler Fackrell in some order to generate a pass rush with Clay Matthews.

Above all, the Packers would have to negotiate with Mack’s representatives prior to pulling the trigger on a trade. They couldn’t part with such valuable assets for a mere rental. Pair that with the rumors of a new record-breaking contract for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and it’s easy for shrug off the idea of #MackAndCheese, however…

The Packers are in pretty good shape under the salary cap looking ahead to next season.

After this season, Clay Matthews ($13 million), Randall Cobb ($10 million), Muhammad Wilkerson ($5 million) are all set to come off the books in addition to the $4.2 million in dead money they’re paying Martellus Bennett and the $2.3 million to Jordy Nelson.

When looking for ways to fit elite players on the same roster, teams figure it out. I’m not Russ Ball, but I’ve played plenty of Madden. Think about it like this: If you’re doing a Fantasy Draft in Madden, meaning every NFL player is up for grabs, Rodgers and Mack would likely be two of the first five-to-ten picks. As soon as you get them signed, you can fill out the rest of your roster however you feel, but a team led by Rodgers and Mack would be a contender — if not frontrunner — for the Super Bowl for as long as they’re both under contract.

When Gutekunst went wheeling-and-dealing in his first draft — moving down from No. 14 to No. 27, then back up to No. 18 — the Packers essentially turned a 2018 third-round pick into a 2019 first-round pick. That gave the Packers the ammunition to do pull off something like this.

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