The beginning of free agency is one of the most chaotic times in the NFL calendar as teams lose and acquire big-name players in a matter of moments. Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden recently appeared on the “Fitz & Whit” show and discussed some free agency experiences he had in his career.
Khalil Mack Wouldn’t Return Jon Gruden’s Calls
Gruden spent 15 years as an NFL head coach, which included two four-year stints with the Raiders and a seven-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He beat the Raiders in Super Bowl 37 and returned to the club in 2018 after nine years away from coaching.
His first big move back with the Raiders was trading defensive end Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears for two first-round picks. The Raiders selected Mack with the fifth-overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and he quickly established himself as one of the best defenders in the league. In his four years with the team, he made the Pro Bowl three times, won Defensive Player of the Year in 2016, and was a first-team All-Pro twice.
He was the first player to be named a first-team All-Pro at two positions (defensive end and outside linebacker) in 2015, and Gruden traded Mack after a new contract couldn’t be reached.
Regarding the Mack trade, Gruden said, “You know, some things are out of the coach’s control. I remember when I went back to the Raiders, we had a pretty good player named Khalil Mack, who was a free agent. He wouldn’t even return my calls. I think we offered him $50 million.
“He ended up getting $100 million from the Bears. But a lot of these things are very emotional, very hard. You want the best players, but there is an economic part of this, and there is a budget that you have to be considerate of because you got to pay a lot of players.”
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Mack signed a six-year, $141 million extension with Chicago and made the Pro Bowl three more times. The Bears traded him to the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2022 offseason, and the 11-year pro has made the Pro Bowl the last three seasons. He was a cornerstone piece of PFSN’s No. 4 ranked defense during the 2024 season and recently signed a one-year, $18 million, fully guaranteed contract to stay with the Chargers.
Mack has 107.5 sacks, 630 tackles, and 185 quarterback hits in his career and could have been a Raider for life, like current star defensive end Maxx Crosby, if Gruden had gotten a deal done. The future Hall-of-Famer seems content with his decision not to get in touch with his former head coach.