Khalil Mack’s Holdout Likely To Extend Into Regular Season

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports that the Raiders and DE Khalil Mack have made no progress towards resolving the ongoing contract impasse and it’s now likely that Mack’s holdout will extend into the regular season.

Sources have told Robinson that as of Monday, the Raiders and Mack remain entrenched in their positions. Oakland has reportedly declined to make Mack a recent offer.

Mack is looking to become the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player.

According to Robinson, there have been no meaningful talks between the two sides in months.

As of now, Raiders HC Jon Gruden reportedly has not been directly involved in talks, but the situation isn’t entirely in the hands of GM Reggie McKenzie either. Robinson says that McKenzie would need Gruden’s approval to sign Mack to a long-term deal, which has essentially left Gruden in charge of the situation.

All of this has played into the lack of progress towards an agreement between the Raiders and Mack, writes Robinson.

Interestingly enough, Robinson says that funding a long-term deal is not an issue for Raiders owner Mark Daivs, despite recent speculation that he may have trouble meeting the league’s funding requirements as part of a massive extension. Sources have told Robison that Davis has the necessary financial liquidity to put Mack’s fully guaranteed funds into escrow.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk recently reported that four teams are “very seriously” exploring a potential trade for Mack. According to Florio, the Raiders “haven’t slammed the door” on the possibility of trading Mack as of now.

Florio says that if a deal were to happen involving Mack, it will likely hinge on whether a team can offer the kind of compensation to satisfy the Raiders and then pay Mack the kind of contract extension he’s looking for, which is believed to be in the neighborhood of $22 million per year.

The Raiders officially placed Mack on the reserve/did not report list after he made the decision to hold out of training camp workouts.

Oakland will have their franchise tag available to use on Mack in 2019 if they don’t get a long-term extension done before the start of the season.

Mack, 27, is a former first-round pick of the Raiders back in 2014. He was in the final year of his four-year, $18,677,002 contract and set to make a base salary of $690,000 to go along with a $2,276,865 roster bonus for the 2017 season when Oakland picked up his fifth-year option last year.

In 2017, Mack appeared in nine games for the Raiders and recorded 78 tackles, 10.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a recovery and three pass defenses.  Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 5 edge defender out of 106 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 25 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.