Raiders Coach Jon Gruden Says He Has No Regrets About Khalil Mack Trade

"We made the trade. There’s going to be hindsight and all that stuff. We would have loved to have had him here but he’s not here. I’m not going to rehash this," Gruden said.

Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders.
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DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders walks off the field after a 20-19 loss to the Denver Broncos at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on September 16, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders.

An 0-2 Raiders start, and a monster first half with his new team (which included a forced fumble, fumble recovery, sack, interception, and touchdown) hasn't changed Jon Gruden's mind about trading Khalil Mack to the Bears for a pair of first round picks.

The old/new Raiders coach stuck by his decision to part ways with the formerly disgruntled linebacker following a Week 2 performance (which ultimately culminated in a one-point loss) where Oakland only sacked Broncos quarterback Case Keenum one time in 35 dropbacks. Gruden stuck to his guns by implying the team didn't think they could keep Mack anyway.

“No, [Sunday's loss] doesn’t make me regret making the decision,” he said. “We made the trade. We made the trade. There’s going to be hindsight and all that stuff. We would have loved to have had him here but he’s not here. I’m not going to rehash this.”

Gruden also added "Hopefully we prove that in the long run we did the right thing."

Having to be the public face of this is why they pay him the big bucks. For $10 million a year (or whatever it is) you could annoy the shit out of us by asking the same thing every week too.

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