Shaquil Barrett and Yannick Ngakoue
Both Barrett and Ngakoue would be prized free agents should they hit the open market. Barrett led the NFL with a career-high 19.5 sacks for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019, his first year with the team. As for Ngakoue, he’s amassed 37.5 sacks in his four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars along with a further 85 quarterbacks hits. These numbers are the 12th and 8th highest in the league in this span respectively.
However, neither player is likely to see the open market. The Jaguars have already announced they will be applying the franchise tag to Ngakoue, seemingly against his wishes, while a similar fate seems set to befall Barrett.
There is speculation that the Jaguars may be looking at this situation as a “tag and trade” scenario, as has been something of a recent trend with pass rushers. But what they would be looking for in terms of trade compensation, allied to the contract Ngakoue would likely command, is a big question. It may be more than the Ravens want to spend but their previous caution hasn’t stopped them from pulling the trigger on big trades before either.
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