The Ravens have made several attempts to upgrade their pass rushing corps this offseason. In addition to a creative sign-and-trade attempt to land Jadeveon Clowney, which was nixed by the league, Baltimore also tried to trade for former Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
La Canfora says the Ravens and Jags were “deep in talks” and had agreed that Baltimore would send a second-round pick to Jacksonville in exchange for Ngakoue, but the Ravens’ salary cap situation ultimately prevented a deal from being completed. At the time of the trade discussions, the Ravens had roughly $6MM in cap space, and while the team did create some (perhaps temporary) room when it released Earl Thomas, Baltimore apparently was not comfortable depleting all of its reserves.
Ultimately, Ngakoue was sent to the Vikings and agreed to reduce his 2020 salary from ~$18MM to $12MM in order to facilitate the trade. The Maryland product likely would have been willing to make a similar concession to make a Ravens trade work, but even a $12MM salary would have forced Baltimore to create cap space elsewhere via restructure or extension.
The team did just create $3MM in cap space several days ago by reworking Brandon Williams‘ contract, and look for the Ravens to continue their pursuit of a pass rusher. Baltimore is said to be monitoring Ziggy Ansah, and perhaps a deal will come together after Week 1. Failing that, GM Eric DeCosta could swing a trade in advance of this year’s deadline, just as he did last year in acquiring CB Marcus Peters from the Rams.
Sucks for Yannick. I’d much rather have Lamar J as my QB than Cousins.
Thanks.
I’m a DC fan I know the feeling!
If you are a DC fan you still have hope in Haskins.
Well as a DE, I’d like to think his quarterback opinions have minimal effects on his team choice. And having a running back as a quarterback has historically worked out only for short term. Like actual RBs, they tend to break down earlier than most other players.
Led the league in Touchdown passes, and countless other categories but he’s a RB just because he is a Running Quaterback. Your a idiot
Cousins can actually win in the playoffs.
Dude’s ego cost him 6M. In a state w no state taxes. Idiot.