If any of us have any complaints at all about our favorite NFL teams, nothing beats the complete misery being brought upon Raiders fans.
It’s a very, very busy day in the National Football League. Rosters are being pared down from 90 to 53 on each of the league’s 32 teams which means over 1,180 players will be without a job. Rookies will be excited. Veterans will be surprised. Player trades and waiver claims will come across the transaction wire. It’s an exciting and interesting day for each team.
That is, unless you’re a fan of the Oakland Raiders. The rest of the AFC West have reasons to complain, but the thought of being a Raiders fan at this point is reason enough to smile ear to ear. The Chiefs might have serious questions about the secondary and slight quibbles with some of the roster cuts (Chase Litton? Really?) but that’s nothing compared to onslaught of bad news leaking out of Oakland. And it seems to never end.
It’s not even yet officially evening on the East Coast, and yet we still have a laundry list of Poor Raiders Decisions to discuss. Let’s take a look at the day (so far) enjoyed by the Raiders.
1. Khalil Mack Trade
A lot of ink will be spilled about this trade one way or the other, either from the Raiders or Chicago Bears perspective, but for our purposes, it’s important to note one thing—the hilarity of it all. Every team in the West boasted one of the NFL’s elite pass rushers, but now the Raiders lack any real threat to get to the passer—at least one that’s proven.
It’s hard enough to find one but the Raiders had one of the best. Literally, he was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate every single season. In fact, he was the easiest part to get right for new head coach Jon Gruden: simply build around your cornerstone in Mack. Instead, Gruden had been building a larger rift all summer long with his star defender and ultimately the team traded him to the Bears.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach on Khalil Mack going to Chicago: "We're excited." Says he called Matt Nagy and told him the Bears and the Chiefs got better today.
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) September 1, 2018
While the Raiders did get 2 first round picks from the Bears in the process, the amazing part is that Oakland agreed to give up a second round pick in 2020 as well. The whole thing is laughable, a franchise who gives up on arguably the best defensive player in the NFL in his prime … and then somehow gets talked into an additional second round choice. Oh, Gruden.
2. Mario Edwards release
Mario Edwards is a former second round pick and one of the team’s few young proven players in the front seven. Yet somehow the team decided to cut Edwards to further add fuel to the fire that they have no idea what they’re doing in the front office. Edwards was, at the very least, a solid run defender. The Raiders added some nice potential to the d-line in this year’s draft for sure, but running Edwards out of town has to have Reggie McKenzie ready to turn in his resignation.
Look, no one was going to blame the Raiders for making a move for something after Derek Carr, but let’s be real: A.J. McCarron was going to be available for a big nothing. They traded a fifth round choice for a player who was likely going to be cut. At the very least, they should have offered a conditional seventh. Then again, Jon Gruden is not the only fool who has tried to trade for McCarron. (Hey, Hue Jackson is also a former Raider!)
I have a good idea: let’s trade a third round pick for a troubled wide receiver and then release him when he—surprise!—gets into trouble. If you missed what happened, the Raiders believe Bryant might be suspended for quite a while and released him today. So that’s just a third round choice thrown to the wind. Seriously this alone would be a bad day, but you have to wonder who is running this team? Does Brett Veach have time to also oversee trades for the Oakland Raiders?
Speaking of suspensions, the Raiders signed defensive back Daryl Worley earlier this offseason knowing he was in a bit of legal trouble for a DUI, carrying a firearm in public and resisting arrest. Today the NFL handed down a four-game suspension for Worley, which is basically like asking Roger Goodell to throw another log on the dumpster fire already burning in Oakland.
To be sure, as Chiefs fans, we’re all thrilled to see Jon Gruden back in the AFC West. We just didn’t realize how capable he would be of providing so many smiles before a game was even played in the regular season.
Not bad for a day’s work—a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.