A different way to look at this mess

[Forbiddenraider]

Trying to think of something positive. Ok so Mack is gone, we wouldn’t have won a SB with him and the Bears won’t win one because of him either. For that kind of money Mack was paid you need to make an impact. DEs are impact guys. Rodgers, Brees, Brady exc..... these are the guys you pay because they can singlehandedly change the game. All those games the Raiders won when we went 12-4 were because of Derek Carr not Mack. How many times did Carr bring us back to win when the defense and Mack couldn’t make an “impact” play. Raiders made Mack a good offer, 3 million less than Mack wanted, so Mack throws a fit. He could have showed up and honored his contract & engaged in negotiations. But he didn’t. He wouldn’t even answer his new coaches calls. If he truly wanted to be a Raider he could have taken home town discount like Brady & many others have. But he’s a diva more concerned about making more money than Donald. Having two high paid players would result in exactly what we have now. Mack & a bunch of bums on defense. We can’t win like that. Also Oakland is lame duck city, we trying to win for Oakland! Lol. Gruden HAD to get something out of this so we got the draft picks. If we hit on them we will be in good shape by the time we go to Vegas. We can also take some of the money we saved from Mack & get Bosa and or others. Mack never led the league in sacks and looking at some of his numbers surprisingly they aren’t the greatest. For that kind of money you gotta be the best defensive player in the league & Mack is not. Aaron Rodgers is still gonna be zipping passes right over Mack’s head. Historically these big money deals never work out. Just some different ideas on this

[piratepride]

This is an excellent spin in this whole situation. Most of us still feel like we were punched in the gut, but your right. Gruden was the 1st one to realize this, and as you mentioned above pulled the trigger considering the other factors in play. If Mack simply took a little less he'd be here still and we would all be talking about the odds of him being in game shape and not pulling a hamstring.
What's done is done, I'll hold off judgement until the next year's draft after hearing Gruden's press conference.
I took a quick look at 2019's top college players coming out and Joey Bosa's brother maybe better than him! He'll probably go within the first 5 picks. Right after all the QB starved teams.
Another thing going for us is the Bears' strong division, they gotta get past GB, Vikings, and the Lions.
There 2018 schedule looks pretty rough, but with Mack they may be a 9-7 team netting us a pick between 15-24.

@GB
Seahawks
@Arizona
Tampa Bay
Bye week
@Miami
New England
Jets
@Buffalo
Lions
Vikings
@Lions
@NY Giants
Rams
GB
@SF
@Vikings

[piratepride]

After looking at the schedule again, they may win 5-7 games and we may be looking at a top 15 selection.

[FreddieB25]

Mack's problem with us wasn't we were 3 mill less per season than the Bears offer. Bears offered 90 mill guaranteed of the contract which we couldn't come close to. It's all about the guaranteed money in the NFL. Reggie should of wrapped Mack up back when Carr was taken care of. Mack aside from double and triple teaming and piss poor coaching and scheming still excelled in this league to justify somebody paying him that kind of money.

[DeadRinger]

Trying to think of something positive. Ok so Mack is gone, we wouldn’t have won a SB with him and the Bears won’t win one because of him either. For that kind of money Mack was paid you need to make an impact. DEs are impact guys. Rodgers, Brees, Brady exc..... these are the guys you pay because they can singlehandedly change the game. All those games the Raiders won when we went 12-4 were because of Derek Carr not Mack. How many times did Carr bring us back to win when the defense and Mack couldn’t make an “impact” play. Raiders made Mack a good offer, 3 million less than Mack wanted, so Mack throws a fit. He could have showed up and honored his contract & engaged in negotiations. But he didn’t. He wouldn’t even answer his new coaches calls. If he truly wanted to be a Raider he could have taken home town discount like Brady & many others have. But he’s a diva more concerned about making more money than Donald. Having two high paid players would result in exactly what we have now. Mack & a bunch of bums on defense. We can’t win like that. Also Oakland is lame duck city, we trying to win for Oakland! Lol. Gruden HAD to get something out of this so we got the draft picks. If we hit on them we will be in good shape by the time we go to Vegas. We can also take some of the money we saved from Mack & get Bosa and or others. Mack never led the league in sacks and looking at some of his numbers surprisingly they aren’t the greatest. For that kind of money you gotta be the best defensive player in the league & Mack is not. Aaron Rodgers is still gonna be zipping passes right over Mack’s head. Historically these big money deals never work out. Just some different ideas on this

I posted in the other thread before I saw this brother. You get it.

This is a set-back. Not the end of the world. Our defense could still be decent, particularly if Marquel Lee, Rahsaan Melvin and Hall can step up.

[FreddieB25]

This is a set-back. Not the end of the world. Our defense could still be decent, particularly if Marquel Lee, Rahsaan Melvin and Hall can step up.[/quote]
Defense still can be decent? Cmon now dude. Decent isn't good enough when the reality is defense wins championships. If Mack was here with the money he wanted and Carr went to the Bears because we couldn't or wouldn't pay him. Would you still say our offense still could be decent with AJ McCarron running the offense and be happy with that? Gruden isn't a defense guy and never gave a shit about keeping Mack because that doesn't shine on his WCO and the accolades he'd get if we win with it. Look at the money Carr and the most of the O-line is getting per year. Mack should of still be here if they had their priorities straight. If Mack was the most dominant offensive player in the NFL, Chucky would of made sure he got paid because that makes Gruden and the offense look good.

[DeadRinger]

This is a set-back. Not the end of the world. Our defense could still be decent, particularly if Marquel Lee, Rahsaan Melvin and Hall can step up.
Defense still can be decent? Cmon now dude. Decent isn't good enough when the reality is defense wins championships. If Mack was here with the money he wanted and Carr went to the Bears because we couldn't or wouldn't pay him. Would you still say our offense still could be decent with AJ McCarron running the offense and be happy with that? Gruden isn't a defense guy and never gave a shit about keeping Mack because that doesn't shine on his WCO and the accolades he'd get if we win with it. Look at the money Carr and the most of the O-line is getting per year. Mack should of still be here if they had their priorities straight. If Mack was the most dominant offensive player in the NFL, Chucky would of made sure he got paid because that makes Gruden and the offense look good.

The diff is right there in your third sentence brother. I never expected to win a championship this season. Because I knew what we had on the roster, and it was way too much mediocrity even WITH Mack.

If we had traded away Carr, I’d Be throwing in the towel dude. That would be just flat-out insanity. You can’t d that in today’s NFL. Best QB we’ve had since Stabler.

But come on man. The conspiracy theories about Gruden trashing the D so he can look better if he wins w a mediocre one? Lol. That may be just a little overboard.

Besides, if that was his goal he fucked up by drafting Key, Hall and Hurst.

[Forbiddenraider]

Reggie is to blame for this entire mess but what the fuck is Gruden thinking with the back up QB position? Aj Mcarron? Last minute before week 1? Of course it traces back to Reggie. Cook is a total piece of shit Reggie pick & EJ Manual is a washed up joke. Somebody get rid of the 900 pound gorilla in the room literally & this team will be a lot better off

[DeadRinger]

Reggie is to blame for this entire mess but what the fuck is Gruden thinking with the back up QB position? Aj Mcarron? Last minute before week 1? Of course it traces back to Reggie. Cook is a total piece of shit Reggie pick & EJ Manual is a washed up joke. Somebody get rid of the 900 pound gorilla in the room literally & this team will be a lot better off

THAT’s what needs to happen now.

Whatever Gruden is or is not, or whatever he’s GOING to be, he MUST step up to the plate and take care of that business, man. You’ve got to do that spring cleaning. Get rid of the disaster-maker, put someone in there who thinks like you do, understands what you’re trying to build and doesn’t make so many huge fucking mistakes.

We need a GM who “takes care of the ball”, as they say. We need to stop shooting ourselves in the fucking head.

[FreddieB25]

Let Reggie tap away on his calculator and demote him to cap guy. Let Gruden and his coaches do the draft and FA signings and all transactions and through Reggie balancing the cap. Reggie is a glorified personnel guy anyway.