Denver Broncos: Khalil Mack mercifully traded out of the division
The Denver Broncos are celebrating after their division rival Oakland Raiders traded their best player, Khalil Mack, out of the division to the Bears.
The Denver Broncos are rejoicing on Saturday despite having to make more than 20 roster moves to cut the team down to 53 players. Why? Because superstar Khalil Mack has been traded away from the AFC West.
You did not read that wrong, and that is not a fake account.
The Oakland Raiders and Chicago Bears have agreed to a deal that will send the star pass rusher to the Windy City, where he will likely also soon become the highest (or one of the highest) paid defensive player in the NFL.
This is a critical move for the Denver Broncos, make no mistake about it.
There has been no single defensive player more disruptive against the Broncos over the last four years than Mack.
Since being drafted by the Raiders in 2014, Mack has racked up 29 tackles, 10 sacks, and three forced fumbles against the Broncos.
That doesn’t include all of the other times he’s hit the quarterback, how many times he’s wrecked the running game, or how many times he’s simply disrupted a play by simply being on the field and allowing other guys to succeed.
The Raiders haven’t necessarily dominated the Broncos in Mack’s time with the team, but since Peyton Manning retired, he’s made a major difference.
The 2016 defensive player of the year (which should have been Von Miller, but whatever), is no longer the Broncos’ problem.
As a matter of fact, fending off the Raiders, in general, seems to be getting easier with every passing day since Jon Gruden’s arrival.
This is one of the worst moves the Raiders could have made. They are transitioning their team to Las Vegas in less than a year’s time, and now they’re not going to have their superstar defensive player going with them.
Instead of Mack, the Raiders will likely have a nice bounty of draft picks, similar to the one the Bears sent to Denver back when the Broncos traded Jay Cutler to Chicago.
Does this situation not remind you of that one?
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Gruden seems to be running the team with a very, very old school approach and not a player-friendly one. It will be interesting to see how this move impacts the Raiders going forward as some of the top players in-house have to be wondering how much Oakland really wants to take care of them if they’re not willing to pay Mack.
This is a day to celebrate for Broncos fans.