With Khalil Mack headed to the Windy City, now is a good time to see who won and who loss in this huge trade.
First is the winners. We can easily note that the Chicago Bears got the better en of the deal. To go along with Mitch Trubisky and Mack, Chicago has a young coach in Nagy who left Kansas City adorned in accolades and flowery praise from Chiefs figurehead Andy Reid. After drifting through the North for eons with the likes of Lovie Smith, Marc Trestman and John Fox, the Bears believe they've hit gold with Nagy. That hope is anchored in his ability to play-call games with a unique blend of innovation and unpredictability, but now it's fair to ask: Will Chicago be led, instead, by the defense?
If you are a Bears fan, you can definitely raise your hand when they ask for winners. The football landscape, for years, has dismissed the Bears as a largely dull, questionably run franchise absent of a master plan for success. As a result, one of the game's finest fan bases has been left to suffer, serving as second-fiddle to a revolving door of NFC power squads.
Now who are the losers? One could easily say every QB in the NFC North. Fans are used to seeing Rodgers carve up Chicago's defense and salt games away by halftime, but Green Bay's star passer won't float from cloud to cloud anymore. Meanwhile, Cousins and Stafford are staring at a pair of divisional games against the Bears that look far thornier than they did on Friday night. Mack is the kind of player who can impact a game in ways that resemble what Lawrence Taylor used to give the New York Giants. Every play is an opportunity for dark terror.
Of course we can't leave raider fans off this list. They were expecting to see Mack take down the likes of Philip Rivers, Case Keenum, and Patrick Mahomes at least twice this year. These QBs will be able to get a little more sleep knowing that they won't have to worry about #52 breathing down their necks.
Only time will give us the answer to whether this was a good move by all parties involved, but either way it goes, Mack now cashes in and Head Coach John Gruden will look to lead a Mack-less team into the season.