Khalil Mack, the former Oakland Raiders all-pro pass rusher and defensive player of the year was famously traded for first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, a third-round pick in 2020 and a sixth-round pick in 2019.  Mack had sat out the whole off season and forfeited about $814k.  The Raiders reportedly could have signed him for a reasonable price, according to  Jason La Canfora.

Jon Gruden, head coach of the Raiders proclaimed his side of the trade,”Obviously, Khalil Mack didn’t want to be here.”  After the trade, the Raiders quarterback tweeted, “No way”.

Khalil Mack is proof how players are willing to not play in order to get a bigger contract.  Players like Aaron Donald and Le’Veon Bell held out during the off season.  Ian Rapoport  tweeted “The #Steelers buses are on the road to Cleveland and RB Le’Veon Bell is not on them, I’m told. Bell will leave a $855K game check on the table and the wait is on. James Conner is their starter until Bell is back.”

Bell’s teammates have come out to show their displeasure with the running back,”Honestly, it’s a little selfish,” Pouncey said of Bell after practice. “I’m kind of pissed right now. It sucks that he’s not here. We’ll move on as a team. It doesn’t look like he’ll be in the game plan at this point (for Week 1). (Second-year running back James) Conner looks great. We’ll worry about (Bell) in Week 2.” On Foster’s end, he seemed frustrated with the fact that Bell isn’t reporting, despite having a contract on the table worth $14.54 million.  “He’s making seven times what I make, twice as much as Al (Villanueva) is making and we’re the guys who do it for him,” Foster said.

Tom Brady considered the best at his position by many is being payed $15 million this year.  Currently 45 players are being payed more than the G.O.A.T. himself.  Some of the players payed more than him include: Tyrod Taylor, Blake Bortles, and even the Red Rifle himself Andy Dalton.   Players are asking for more than they are worth because they are worried about losing those players.  The Raiders chose to trade Mack and lost his talents for two picks that they can only hope turn into good players.  Players from now on will be willing to sit out games to get guaranteed money because it will end up paying out more.  If Bell or Mack got hurt they might end up losing money because teams would pay less for them.