Earlier in the month, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue made it clear that he wants to move on from the Jacksonville Jaguars and he’s ending the month echoing those sentiments.
After Mike Garafolo reported that multiple teams had interest in trading for the young pass-rusher, Ngakoue responded to the report via Twitter by reiterating that his time in Jacksonville was up and insisting that both sides move on.
Let’s agree to disagree . Why hold a man from taking care of his family. It’s obvious my time is up in my current situation. Let’s both move on @Jaguars 🏁 https://t.co/XvGcSAQQkH
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) March 31, 2020
Ngakoue’s relationship with the Jags took a massive spiral last year after the team didn’t put forth a strong enough effort to extend him. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Jags offered Ngakoue a short-term deal worth $19 million annually in the early part of July, however, those negotiations ended prematurely by the end of the month.
With Dave Caldwell now running the front office (again), he stated that the Jags wanted to make Ngakoue their top priority after the 2019 season, but the damage done during Tom Coughlin’s tenure seemingly outweighed those statements. The team eventually had to end up franchising Ngakoue under a tender worth $17.7 million, which led to the point we’re currently at.
Heading forward, things should get rather interesting in terms of interest in Ngakoue as the draft is set for late April. Teams who weren’t able to land a marquee pass-rusher during free agency could now turn to the Jags, who clearly won’t let Ngakoue go unless the value is right.