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| | A lot is asked of the (27th Sep 18 at 6:18am UTC) | | Jon Gruden didn't mince words.
As excited as he was to coach Khalil Mack in his second stint with Oakland Womens Patrick Mahomes Jersey , Gruden believes the right move ultimately was to trade Mack to give the Raiders the draft picks and salary cap room needed to rebuild a depleted roster.
"It wasn't my goal to trade Khalil when we got here," Gruden said Sunday. "One of the reasons I'm here is because of him. Unfortunately, we had a standoff with a contract, and we could not come to terms. The Bears made us an offer of two first-round draft choices and here we are today."
The Raiders made the blockbuster trade on Saturday, dealing one of the game's most dominant defensive players to Chicago for first-round draft picks in 2019 and 2020, a sixth-rounder next year and a third-rounder in 2020. Oakland also included its second-round selection in 2020 and a conditional fifth-rounder that year in the trade.
Mack then immediately signed a six-year, $141 million extension with the Bears that guarantees $90 million. That's the richest deal ever for a defensive player and nowhere near where the Raiders were willing to go after already committing $25 million a year to quarterback Derek Carr.
"It's tough when you have two players that are the highest paid at their positions, so the economic part of it certainly weighs in," Gruden said. "We've got free agents on our team that are going to be (up) next year; we've got to find a way to bring them back. So you've got to field a 53-man roster and there are some implications of having two players making that much money. That's no mystery to anybody."
The Bears were willing to commit that money in part because they have quarterback Mitchell Trubisky on a rookie deal. The Los Angeles Rams gave $87 million guaranteed to Aaron Donald this past week in what was the richest defensive contract for one day until Mack surpassed it, but they also have quarterback Jared Goff on a rookie contract.
The Raiders don't have that luxury and have several holes to fill on a team that went 6-10 last year and has gotten little production from recent draft classes. Oakland has already cut ties with its second-round picks from 2015, '16 and '17 in Mario Edwards Jr., Jihad Ward and Obi Melifonwu and has only 11 of the 50 draft choices that general manager Reggie McKenzie made from 2012-17 on the 53-man roster.
That has contributed to the Raiders having the oldest roster in the league and the desire for more draft picks.
"We're trying to hit on the draft Womens Ryan Shazier Jersey ," Gruden said. "We're trying to draft and develop. Obviously the last three draft classes we haven't got a lot of production out of yet. I don't think there's anybody left from the '13 draft. The '15, '16, '17 (classes), not much production at all. With that being said, you have to fill holes."
Gruden didn't want to second-guess the approach the Raiders took with Mack after exercising the fifth-year option on his rookie deal worth $13.8 million.
The two sides traded offers before the start of the league year in March that were far apart and the Raiders made no more offers after that as Mack held out. Despite the wide gap, the Raiders did not look to trade Mack before the draft when they could have gotten help for this season.
When Donald got his big deal Friday, Oakland saw where the bar was set and made the deal rather than wait to see if Mack would eventually report.
"We would like to have the player stay here; he was under contract," Gruden said. "We did not expect this to last as long as it did. But we're going to be second-guessed until the cows come home on this. I understand that. But, bottom line is, we did do our due diligence, there was a standoff, and he got a great contract from the Bears 鈥?a great contract."
Now the Raiders must move on with the season opener coming Sept. 10 against the Rams. There is a big hole on defense as the Raiders try to replace a player who is a two-time All-Pro and the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Since entering the league Womens Dak Prescott Jersey , Mack leads all players with 185陆 quarterback pressures and ranks second with 68 tackles for loss, according to SportRadar.
Oakland still has Bruce Irvin as a pass rusher on one side and rookie Arden Key showed promise this summer on the other side. The inside rush should be improved with rookies P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst, but none of those players are at Mack's level.
Mack also was a leader in the locker room and one of the most popular players, making his loss even bigger. But Gruden felt it was still time to move on, no matter how much he will be missed by his teammates.
"He's a great player and a good teammate and a lot of these guys were very good friends with him," he said. "It was tough but he's been gone for some time. Like I said, we wish him the best. We have to build this football team. We have a lot of needs and we'll address him as we see fit. But it's never easy to say goodbye to anybody, especially a great player."
Ezekiel Elliott doesn't pretend that vocal leadership comes naturally for him.
The Dallas Cowboys running back is going to try anyway now that fellow stars Jason Witten and Dez Bryant are gone, and now that his focus is solely on football following a tumultuous second year in the NFL.
Elliott is no longer under investigation by the league over domestic violence allegations that led to a two-month court fight of a six-game suspension he ultimately had to serve starting halfway through last season.
The ban cost him a chance to defend the NFL rushing title he won as a rookie, and helped keep the Cowboys out of the playoffs a year after he and quarterback Dak Prescott, the NFL offensive rookie of the year in 2016, led Dallas to the best record in the NFC.
A quiet offseason reached another benchmark Thursday with the final practice of minicamp. In another six weeks Womens Cameron Jordan Jersey , training camp will be underway in California.
"I think the biggest thing I accomplished is just developing more leadership skills," Elliott said. "That's really what I focused on coming into this year, just becoming a better vocal leader with the loss of Dez and Witt."
Running backs coach Gary Brown has been pushing the idea with Elliott, who is going into his third season after the Cowboys drafted the former Ohio State star fourth overall in 2016.
The loss of leadership is actually about more than Witten, the tight end who retired after 15 seasons, or the outspoken Bryant, who was released in a cost-cutting move. Veterans Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris aren't in the running backs room anymore.
Elliott isn't the oldest running back at the position for the Cowboys. But he's the most experienced and most accomplished. Elliott still led the NFL in rushing yards per game last year.
"It's a little bit tougher for me to be a vocal leader," he said. "I like to go out there and work. I think it takes a little bit more extra effort to kind of encourage guys to come with you so it's definitely something I have to work on."
With the domestic allegations looming during the offseason last year, Elliott had a hard time keeping himself out of the headlines.
There was video of him pulling down a woman's shirt during a St. Patrick's Day parade. Although he wasn't disciplined for that by the NFL, the incident was mentioned in the letter detailing his punishment. Elliott also had his second minor car accident in his two years with the Cowboys.
The 22-year-old hasn't given anyone reason to question his judgment so far this offseason.
"I think it changed him a lot," Brown said of events over the past year. "I think that he's realized that this is a very special opportunity that he has, especially to be one of the better backs Youth Ryan Shazier Jersey , one of the best backs to ever play. He has that opportunity, and I think he understands that now."
Elliott shattered the Dallas rookie rushing record with 1,631 yards two years ago. Last season, he was at his best in helping the Cowboys to a three-game winning streak that boosted their playoff hopes. Then the suspension hit.
The departure of Bryant has left the Cowboys with uncertainty at receiver and the likelihood that they will lean heavily on Elliott, with defenses obviously scheming to stop him.
"I'm all for it," Elliott said. "A lot is asked of the running back of the Dallas Cowboys. A lot has been asked of me in pass receiving. I think I've had some great strides this offseason getting ready to carry that workload this season."
While encouraging Elliott to speak up more in his group, Brown hasn't felt the need to stress what's coming with the workload. That's something he figures Elliott understands.
"I think Zeke is a very intelligent man," Brown said. "And it's going to happen early. We understand what the mindset of some defenses will be, and we've just got to make sure we weather the storm."
For now, Elliott is enjoying the calm.
NOTES: RG Zack Martin signed the $84 million, six-year extension that made him the highest-paid guard in the NFL. Martin is now under contract through 2024.
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