Everyone, except maybe Gruden knows how good Mack is.
I think that's unfair to gruden. He took over a rebuilding project and was given an unheard of 10 years to run the team.
Khalil Mack was on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. Amari Cooper was on the fourth year of his contract. They were both about to get paid huge contracts. Mack is already making about 11% of the salary cap. Add that to carr - whose contract Gruden inherited - and those 3 would have accounted for about 30 percent of the cap next year.
There's also the human element. The raiders weren't good on defense even with mack, and they were losing games while cooper put in inconsistent effort. Blame gruden the coach if you want, but those players were worth more to the teams that they went to than they were worth on the raiders.
Letting them go puts them firmly in the conversation for 1.1. They would have been a borderline playoff team with them, call it pick 10 or worse. They not only got 3 firsts, they moved up from 1.10 to 1.1, which typically costs more than a future first.
So in essence they got 4 or more first round picks and got out of cap hell. But they gave up an elite defensive player and a good receiver that they'll need to replace.
What are the strengths of the 2019 draft? Pass rushers and receivers.
They're going to replace one year of Mack with 5 years of Bosa, replace two years of cooper with five years of a blue chip receiver prospect, and still have another first round pick to wotk with this year and two next year.
They'll be in a much better position cap wise, they'll go to a new stadium with new exciting players and a recognizable coach, and they'll be in position to start adding free agents after gruden has gotten to know who he wants to keep and who needs to be replaced.
I applaud Chicago for getting him, but paying two first round picks and giving a monster contract to a player is hardly a bargain. It's the kind of move you can only afford to make when your qb is on a rookie contract.