In the offseason heading into the 2020 NFL season, Yannick Ngakoue joined a Vikings team that was thought to contend for the playoffs.
Ngakoue came from a Jaguars team that didn’t seem to be in a playoff window.
Just six games into the Vikings season, Minnesota does not appear to be a competitor. And now, Ngakoue has found himself shipped off to a different team once again.
Ngakoue recently discussed the trade to the Ravens with reporters. Here’s what he said:
“It was a mutual agreement on both sides,” Ngakoue said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “It felt like the best fit and the best thing to do at the time. That’s what made me ultimately make the decision to come here.”
Ngakoue, on just a one-year deal, has tallied five sacks in six NFL games in 2020. For the Vikings, if the team is rebuilding, it makes sense to ship off a player on a hot streak and a one-year deal. Not doing so runs the risk of Ngakoue departing in the offseason and signing elsewhere, leading to the Vikings getting nothing back.