The phone kept ringing and the Raiders finally started listening to the trade offers. And then the Raiders did something Saturday morning they had said they weren’t going to do. They traded Khalil Mack.



Traded him at the worst possible time. A week before the season. For draft picks next year.



Six weeks ago, after Jon Gruden stood in front of an impassioned crowd at his party at Ricky’s Sports Bar and yelled, “We’re going to find a way to get Khalil Mack back,” the Raiders coach convinced owner Mark Davis to pull the trigger on trading their best player.



And it was Gruden who had called Mack his “best player,” but everyone agreed.



Davis didn’t want to trade Mack, 27, who was under team control for three more years, including this one. General manager Reggie McKenzie definitely didn’t want to do it.



Gruden claimed he had not been involved in the negotiations with Mack,...