The big rumor that was circulating the morning of the draft with regard to the Raiders was trading to acquire Yannick Ngakoue from the Jaguars. The edge rusher was slapped with the franchise tag this offseason and he wants to be traded.
Initial reports had the Jags wanting to get the 12th overall pick from the Raiders and early reports suggested the Raiders wouldn’t go higher than pick 19. Later, more reliable reports suggest the talks never got as far as specific compensation, which seems a bit more realistic.
We put out the question to the fans to see what they thought about the Raiders picking up the 25-year-old edge rusher with 37.5 career sacks over four seasons. The question was what they would be cool with the Raiders giving up for Ngakoue. It got a pretty sizable response and of all of them, I could find just one that said the Raiders should give up pick 19 in the deal straight up.
I counted 17 responses that said they would be ok with the Raiders giving up a third or 4th round pick, while another 18 said they wouldn’t make the deal at all.
Those who said they wouldn’t be ok with the Raiders giving up anything often cite the fact that the Raiders don’t really have enough of a need for his services with their current roster.
The team just spent the 4th overall pick on Clelin Ferrell and watched as 4th round pick Maxx Crosby put up double-digit sacks as a rookie. Then they added Carl Nassib this offseason to give them a nice looking rotation. Ngakoue coming onboard would figure to move Ferrell back inside which proved to be a big mistake last season. Why waste a 4th overall pick like that?
There were quite a few others who had deals that swapped multiple picks and/or current players. The most commonly traded Raiders player was Gabe Jackson with Derek Carr getting a few mentions as well.
Here are some select interesting trade scenarios fans came up with.
Gabe and a 5
— J. Antonio (@goldlinkantonio) April 23, 2020
A second in 2021 or two thirds this year or Gabe and a 3rd Rd pick
— Eric (@oakland627) April 23, 2020
19 for Ngakoue and a 2nd
— Omar Alvarado (@Omarvelous29) April 23, 2020
19 and Gabe for 2nd
— Omar Miller (@Milliknows) April 23, 2020
Carr and a 3rd
— fabian chavez (@FabianC_90) April 23, 2020
Gabe and 2 3rds in return for a second
— JA Bailey (@Lak3Sh0wRaiders) April 23, 2020
Derrk carr and a 5th pick or derek carr and his house
— OCR_10 (@10Ocr) April 23, 2020
Swap pick 12 for pick 20 and Ngakoue, that’s the absolute most I would give up.
— Josh Murillo (@JoshMurillo13) April 23, 2020
Two thirds with a second in return.
— R. Barker (@rbarker_7) April 23, 2020
19 but want there 2nd rounder. If not of well
— Go Raiders (@GoRaiders19) April 23, 2020
If you’re wondering why so many fans would be including Gabe Jackson or Derek Carr in deals, there’s a good reason for it — cap space.
Both players would clear a significant amount of cap space if traded. Trading Carr would save the Raiders $13.6 million while Jackson would save $9.6 million. The Raiders would need to clear space in order to take on Ngakoue’s salary which, if he signs his franchise tender, would be around $17.5 million and the Raiders have at most about $5 million to spend currently.
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