They say that time heals all wounds. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, that doesn’t apply to their ongoing saga with Yannick Ngakoue. With two weeks to go before the franchise tag extension deadline, Ngakoue’s stance remains unchanged (Twitter link via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com). The defensive end still wants a trade and still doesn’t want to sign the one-year tag.
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The Jaguars claim that they’ve tried to mend fences with the 25-year-old. GM Dave Caldwell has also claimed that they haven’t received any offers for Ngakoue. Translated, that probably means that they haven’t been offered enough to part with the young edge rusher.
Ngakoue has registered at least eight sacks in each of his four pro seasons, including a career-high 12.5 sacks in 2017. Plenty of teams would surely like to add Ngakoue, but they’ll only part with so much in the way of draft capital, because acquiring Ngakoue also means giving him a lucrative long-term deal in line with the market.
Ngakoue wants to join the $20MM+ defensive lineman club, but he doesn’t want his induction to come in Jacksonville. For now, he’s facing a one-year, $17.788MM tender that he also says he doesn’t want. If they can’t work things out by the deadline, Ngakoue figures to hold out through training camp at the very least. The threat of a holdout could extend into September as well, but that would be costly in the short-term and the long-term. A full-season holdout would delay Ngakoue’s potential free agency by another year and recreate the same problem in 2021.
The Eagles, Seahawks, and Browns have been keeping their eyes peeled for DEs, but no team wants to commit mega dollars to players with the possibility of major cap restrictions after this year. Besides, the Eagles’ 2021 cap situation is cramped as is, and the Seahawks are running low on available funds for the current year.
Lions kinda move right here. If only he had a tie to the NE organization, it’d be a shoe-in.
Detroit is not a destination players should seek if they have hopes of being rewarded for elite performances. Darius Slay learned that.
Ngakoue is good, and would likely command significant money on the market. But that price tag, coupled with the draft capitol/current player needed to pry him from the Jags makes it impossible for him to get both. Clowney is struggling to get $18 million in free agency, and will likely have to settle for an average level deal around $12 million. Ngakoue would likely command more money, given his more consistent production as a pass rusher, and his being slightly younger. This late in free agency, though, the market is pretty stale. We haven’t even heard about Everson Griffin. Ngakoue may be the top pass rusher of the group, and may have the highest ceiling, but given his contract demands (with the knowledge that he’d likely take a little less to facilitate a trade), it’s tough to justify that move for a team right now.
Ngakoue is good. But if Clowney can’t even get $15 million, it’ll be hard for Ngakoue to get $20 million AND draft picks, even if his market value is a bit higher. Teams are planning for decreased cap this year, not to mention decreased revenue and a possibly canceled season, on top of those other reasons.
Just sign the Tag,take your money and play your ass off and earn a big contract.
That’s how it works.
Don’t punish the team that actually took a chance on you when everyone else passed…..three times.
Everyone knows there is no way your giving up $17 million when it’s about money.
Players fail to realize that the “next” contract isn’t about what you’ve already done….it’s about what you “will” do.Jags offered a fair deal…you passed.
Sign,play,get paid,earn the next one.