NEWSLETTER
Trading for Khalil Mack is a pretty sweet deal, and it’s one that appears to be getting sweeter than expected.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets the trade between the Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders is official, and provides a look at what is being swapped by the two sides:
Trade official, source tells ESPN:
Bears get: Khalil Mack, a 2020 second-round round pick and a conditional 2020 fifth-round pick.
Raiders get: 2019 first-round pick, 2020 first-round pick, 2020 third-round pick, 2019 sixth-round pick.
So Bears get back second-round pick, too
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2018
Getting Mack to round out the defense is one thing – the main thing, obviously – but to get a second-round pick from the Raiders in 2020 is like getting whipped cream, a cherry, and caramel drizzle on top of a hot fudge sundae that you didn’t know you were getting (but you know you needed and deserved).
The Bears receiving a second-round pick helps offset some of the draft capital they’re dealing to the Raiders in order to make the trade in the first place.
Dealing two first-round picks (2019, 2020), a third-round choice (2020), and a sixth-round selection (2019) is surely rich. It also means the Bears aren’t scheduled to pick until the third round in 2019 (remember, they traded their second-round pick in the upcoming draft to the Patriots in order to take Anthony Miller), but will have two second-round picks to kick off the 2020 draft. You figured the cost of business for a player with Mack’s talent and upside would command a boatload of assets going to Oakland. But to get a pick back in return is quite a pleasant surprise.
If Mack is the impact player Chicago expects him to be, those first-round picks will toward the back half of their respective rounds and won’t be viewed as a huge loss for a franchise that just filled its biggest need by acquiring one of the best pass-rushers in the game. That’s a win-win, as far as I’m concerned.
And hey, maybe the Raiders will stink next year, thus making that 2020 second rounder not that far behind the Bears’ former 2020 first round pick …
