GM McKenzie: 'Everybody in the organization wanted Khalil to be a Raider'

Posted due to a couple of AD references and several relevent topics previously on this board.

GM McKenzie: ‘Everybody in the organization wanted Khalil to be a Raider’
Q&A with executive on why star defensive player was dealt to Chicago Bears

By JERRY MCDONALD | jmcdonald@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: September 2, 2018 at 6:00 am | UPDATED: September 2, 2018 at 11:00 am


ALAMEDA — Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie addressed the decision to trade Khalil Mack and a few other topics Saturday night in a conference call with Bay Area media.

A transcript of the questions and answers:

Q: Can you explain how the trade came about, was it something you were on board with from the start or would you say it was more Jon (Gruden) driven?

McKenzie: No, all of us, Gru, myself, everybody in the organization wanted Khalil to be a Raider. I mean, that was not an issue at all. We presented him with an offer and we got that counter back and talked about it, with him, when I say him I’m talking about his representative (Joel Segal), and what they were demanding, it just wasn’t going to work at that time. We were all on board to try and jump on it early, see if we could get the thing done. It didn’t work out in the end.

Q: When did you present that offer to Mack’s representatives and how far apart were you?

McKenzie: We weren’t close. But we presented that prior to the start of the league year, so it was close to the start of the combine. Between that and the start of the league year, that’s when the conversations were taking place.

Q: Was their counter offer similar to the deal Khalil got with the Bears — I’m sure you’ve seen those numbers. Is that about right?

McKenzie: You know what, I don’t want to comment on what we offered and all that, the numbers. I just think Khalil got a great deal.

Q: How much did Aaron Donald’s deal this week lead to where the bar was going to be set with Khalil?

McKenzie: No. No, it wasn’t a motivating factor. We were worried about just trying to do a deal with Khalil. What he would be willing to take. It wasn’t about Aaron Donald. It was about Khalil Mack. I don’t know what his representatives were focusing on, whether it was trying to be comparable to Aaron. It really didn’t matter. We wanted to try and see what we could do with Khalil. It was about what the Raiders could do.

Q: Was there any thought given to trying to get him to come in on his fifth-year option and then keeping control of him with a franchise tag next year?

McKenzie: We just wanted to make sure we could get him in here and try and work through it, see what could happen. The franchise tag is always available. We wanted to see if there was any kind of way we could get that longterm deal. We were going through a lot of things internally to figure out how we could keep him. You always have the availability of the franchise tag after the fifth year option, of course.

Q: You never made another offer after the first offer at the start of the league year?

McKenzie: You know, another thing, guys, you want us to talk about negotiating a player’s contract and you know we don’t really talk about the negotiation process. The bottom line is we discussed in depth about presenting a great initial offer to Khalil in hopes we could get something worked out, but it didn’t happen. There were some things that weren’t meshing, that made it hard to go into details. We were just trying to figure ways to try and get it done, but it wasn’t what Khalil wanted to do. He couldn’t come in, and by him not coming in, it showed us that we probably have to see what in the world’s going to happen if this continues.

Q: Was that a realization you came to in the last couple of days, that the trade was the best option? Or was that in your thoughts for awhile?

McKenzie: My whole thought process was to get Khalil in here. Absolutely. It was here at the end, it was in the final hour, that it kind of just, it hit hard and heavy. It was not a plan to trade him at all.

Q: What was Chris Warren’s injury and when did he get injured?

McKenzie: He got a knee, and that thing’s been kind of wearing on him for a minute, and after the game it was just taking its toll. And that was before the last game. He sucked it up until after we got the MRIs and all that, we got to go ahead and get surgery on this to try and get him well. So that’s what we’re going to do.

Q: What went into Martavis Bryant’s release?

McKenzie: The bottom line with the competition we had, we feel like we’ve got some good players. With Martavis, he missed some practice, a lot of practice time, really, with minor ailments. And guys just came in and competed. At the end of the day, we wanted the guys who came to work every day and made plays. It seems like it’s going to help us in these ballgames. We just didn’t see it from him at the end of the day. It made it clear that he’s not going to be one of the guys we’re going to be able to count on.

Q: Do you have a comment about his league standing with regard to a suspension?

McKenzie: No.

Q: How many teams reached out to you about the possibility of trading for Mack and what made the Bears offer the best one?

McKenzie: Quite a few. It was more than half the league. So a lot of people inquired to say the least. I wanted the opportunity, to hopefully, pick, just based on the history of the last couple of drafts, to pick a little early, that would be great. Kind of narrowed it down to some of those teams we felt would be,. that they have the opportunity to pick early in next year’s draft and in the future.

Q: Are you concerned about the perception league-wide among players and maybe even in your own locker room that the Raiders won’t pay top dollar to keep their best players?

McKenzie: We will pay top dollar. We couldn’t get around giving Khalil what he wanted. We will pay top dollar to our top players. We just could not get it worked out with Khalil. That’s just the way it is, the way it went, and when it seemed like it was going that way we seized the opportunity to go ahead and make a move with the trade. That’s what it came down to. But we will be able to attract players. And with the contract situation, and players in the locker room, it’s going to sting with them. That’s players protecting themselves and their teammates and that’s the way it should be. They’re going to miss Khalil. I’m going to miss Khalil. We all will miss Khalil. Let’s make that point known now. We all will miss him, but we will all move on, also. We’re going to find a way to continue to play good football, and that’s just the way it goes. We’re not worried about the outside perception of free agency. We will get free agents in here when it’s time to do that, and we will keep our own, but sometimes you can’t keep ’em all. That’s just the way it is. Can’t keep ’em all.

Q: You look at the Rams signing Aaron Donald and did so with a franchise quarterback on his rookie contract, and you see what the Bears were able to offer Khalil with a franchise quarterback who is in his rookie contract. How much influence did it have on the situation, having a quarterback who is not in his rookie contract, one of the top players at his position . . if you gave Mack the counter offer you’d have a high percentage of the cap spending tied to two players. How much did that play into the situation?

McKenzie: That didn’t factor in. We knew we had two great players in that draft a long time ago. We knew this day was coming. We were trying to plan for this. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. That scenario did not weigh heavily into our decision.

East Bay Times



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2018 03:52PM by ramBRO.