NAPA, Calif. — Was Derek Carr telling the truth?
Or was it a coded challenge, of sorts, to get Khalil Mack to end his holdout and report to training camp with the Oakland Raiders?
“He was over at the house and we didn’t talk about it one time,” Carr said of Mack and his holdout, which reached three practices and counting on Sunday. “We played pool basketball and I dunked on him.”
Carr laughed, but … challenge received?
“… when he gets here, if he gets here, he’ll be an exciting piece to add.”
Raiders DC Paul Guenther
Indeed, Mack has stayed away from the team since the season ended, skipping the voluntary offseason program in Alameda as well as mandatory minicamp and, obviously, Jon Gruden’s first training camp in Napa since 2001. And yet, Mack’s absence has not been much of a downer for the Raiders.
After all, with so many new faces on the Raiders roster this year — there were more than 40 new players on the team’s 90-man offseason roster — as well as a new coach in Gruden and a new defensive coordinator in Paul Guenther, how can you miss something you never had, right?
Well…
“He’s an exciting player,” said Gruden, who might not have met with Mack face to face but has had a conversation or two with the edge rusher. “He’s one of the best in football.”
Added Guenther: “Obviously, when he gets here, if he gets here, he’ll be an exciting piece to add.”
Mack has a contract. With the Raiders having exercised the fifth-year option on the No. 5 pick of the 2014 draft, he is due to make $13.486 million this season. And if the Raiders wanted to, they could simply use the franchise tag on him in 2019 and 2020, though that might obviously anger Mack further than he already seemingly is.
Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie, who had no comment other than to confirm Mack is holding out, has a policy of not negotiating through the media or with players under contract who are not in camp. A year ago, left tackle Donald Penn held out, relented and reported 26 days late without a new deal and then got his extension after Week 1 of the regular season.
There is a growing sense that Mack is miffed that, despite being the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 2016, he is not yet locked up, especially as two of his draft classmates in Carr and right guard Gabe Jackson received extensions to the tune of $125 million and $55 million, respectively. Even receiver Seth Roberts, an undrafted free agent in that same 2014 class, got a $12 million extension last summer.
Then there’s the Aaron Donald factor.
Real or perceived, there is another growing sense that Mack and the Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle, who is also holding out, are engaged in a game of chicken to see which of the past two NFL defensive players of the year signs his contract first … so the other can sign for more.
“Honestly, Khalil is a great player and I understand that it’s a situation where he’s trying to take care of his family,” said All-Pro left guard Kelechi Osemele. “It’s a business. We haven’t really even spoken about it, to be honest with you. We’ve just been so focused on getting better. I hope he comes back, but that’s outside of our control.
“Honestly, that name hasn’t come up a lot, but I mean we would love, love for him to come back. But we’re so into what we’re doing right now that that’s just what we’re focused on.”
Neither Mack nor his agent, Joel Segal, have said publicly what they want and Mack recently re-tweeted a post from his college team, showing him playing cornerback against a Buffalo wideout.
MACK @52Mack_ out there in buffalo building character in those boys at UB Stadium! 😂💪🏈 @ub_football pic.twitter.com/6PBIo2mLjc
— 2LegitAthPerformance (@legit_athletic) July 24, 2018
“When we add the other special guy, it will be even more special,” new middle linebacker Derrick Johnson said of Mack, of course thinking of him as a pass rusher and not a DB.
“But right now, we’re going to work to get better and when he comes in, we’ll be ready to go.”
Of course, Mack’s video prompted a response or two from his teammates, especially the guy who is expected to improve his production as Mack’s bookend.
“If Khalil was here, we’d be leading the same way,” said Bruce Irvin, who is making the switch to defensive end from outside linebacker. “We can’t worry about who isn’t here. Khalil gets tired, so when Khalil goes out of the game, the guys here have to go in the game and play while he’s tired. He rarely gets tired, but when he does those guys have to be ready. We’re trying to focus on getting these young guys ready. Those things will take care of themselves.
“He’s working. I talk to him every day. He misses it, but you know how it is. He’s working his butt off and when he gets here, he’ll be ready.”
Ready, maybe, to even get that rematch with Carr in pool basketball?
“I think it’s fair to say that we would all love to have Khalil here,” Carr said. “If I tried to answer it politically correct and all those things, we all know that we want him back. I think everyone feels that in our whole building.
“I have been in contact with him. He’s my brother. … I’m fully confident with where Khalil is at and where our team is at. Obviously, we want him back, but again I try not to step into that.”
Dunks excluded, of course.
Source : ESPN
