The Raiders have restructured Yannick Ngakoue‘s contract (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). The defensive end will have $12MM of his salary converted into a signing bonus to free up $8MM in cap room for the Raiders. The Raiders also added three void years to the deal to make it all work.
The will allow the Raiders to add KJ Wright and his new contract to the books. Plus, they’ll have extra cash to upgrade elsewhere during the year.
Ngakoue inked a two-year, $26MM deal with the Raiders back in March. The basics of the pact remain unchanged — Ngakoue will earn the same amount of money and remain under club control until the spring of 2023.
Jon Gruden has long been a fan of Ngakoue. Ditto for old friend Gus Bradley, his defensive coordinator in Las Vegas. The Raiders hope that Ngakoue will help to restore their once feared pass rush, which hasn’t been the same since the Khalil Mack trade.
Ngakoue, 26, is set to enter his sixth season as a pro. With 45.5 career sacks to his credit, he’s a potential difference-maker — even if the Ravens didn’t use him all that much in the playoffs. He’s not particularly strong against the run, but he averaged over nine sacks per season over his first four years in the league, and he has also demonstrated some serious play-making ability. He forced 14 fumbles in that stretch and he was directly responsible for five of the 12 defensive touchdowns the Jaguars scored between 2016 and 2019.
Just a reminder…..
So in 2017 the Raiders were 6-10 and so far over the cap they were about to get a fine and lose draft picks. No one, and I do mean NO ONE feared the Raiders pass rush. That pass rush made Josh McCown, Tyrod Taylor, and Trevor Siemian look like Hall of Fame locks.
Mack got traded because he was a hold out. He refused to play until the Raiders made him the highest paid D player in history or trade him.
I don’t think their ’21 pass rush is grand either. The division is between KC & the Chargers.
The local high school team would get dominated by the Raiders ’21 pass rush, the college team maybe not so much…..
If the Raiders D can manage middle of the road status they could take the division. The Raiders split with both LA and KC with one game going into OT. Both KC and LV have re-tooled O-lines and LA has a complete new coaching staff.
Oh boo hoo Mack wanted to be paid his worth who cares
Cellin Ferrell is a BUST. Nobody fears Chuckie or the RAIDERS
Gruden should of stayed doing TV. Has Gruden lost his touch?
No. He’s a good coach, bad gm. He has too much power.
So I went back and read the article twice. Both times I failed to find where Clelin Ferrell was mentioned? Thank you for that honest input.
So your prediction is that the Raiders will be the first 0-17 team in the history of the NFL?