I woke up today to grab my phone after a night out. I had 18 text messages from my friends in a group chat about Khalil Mack joining the Chicago Bears. At that point, I wondered if I should either start drinking or head back to bed calling it a day. Khalil Mack will be in the NFC North, but it will not be with the Green Bay Packers. Instead, he will be with their rival Chicago Bears who are 1000 percent going for it. The deal is expected to be for two first rounders plus a deal that will make Mack the highest-paid defensive player eclipsing what Aaron Donald just received from Los Angeles. From the sounds of it, Chicago will break the bank for Mack from a draft perspective. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the compensation will eclipse what the Minnesota Vikings gave up for Jared Allen.

The most an NFL team has surrendered for a defensive player is when Vikings traded a 1, two 3’s and a swap of 5’s to Chiefs for DE Jared Allen. Bears trade for Khalil Mack, when it gets done, will top that, making it the most an NFL team has surrendered for a defensive player.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2018

The question is did the Packers screw up? Couple of things are at work. First, we need to see how much Chicago gave up for Mack. It’s possible that Oakland received a majority of Chicago’s 2019 and 2020 NFL Draft picks. The two first round picks are not a problem to me, but if you have to handicap yourself in the draft, that does not feel worth it to me. The second part of this is Mack’s deal would likely put Green Bay in a definite pickle from a salary cap perspective. My guess is that Russ Ball looked at how the Packers could have both Khalil and Aaron on the same salary cap and found it very difficult to spend elsewhere.

It truly sucks to have Mack inside the NFC North. It sucks to have the Chicago Bears make a push to be a contender, but it’s expected with all of the additions they made this spring. David Bakhtiari can go to war with a perennial Defensive Player of the Year. Bryan Bulaga can too. And yes if they go down, the Packers are screwed but that can be said for so many teams. It’s not going to be easy, and it’s not worth getting worked up over something that didn’t happen. Packers will roll on and always remember…

The Bears still suck.

Charlie.