The Vikings reportedly trading for Yannick Ngakoue is a big addition to the team’s defensive line.
But the logistics for the trade coming to fruition and going through seemed tricky. Ngakoue was on a franchise tag just over $17.78 million. Not only do the Vikings already have a player under the franchise tag, Anthony Harris, but Ngakoue’s cap hit would be too much for Minnesota to take on in 2020.
The trade hasn’t been finalized just yet, but how did the trade get agreed to? As reported by Chad Graff of The Athletic, the Vikings asked Ngakoue to take a pay cut and he agreed. Here’s what else he wrote:
“He was going to lose money during the holdout and partly to finally leave Jacksonville and begin with a franchise he believes is a contender.
That was the last significant hurdle in the trade. The Vikings will likely still need to restructure the contract of a current player (perhaps Riley Reiff), but getting Ngakoue to agree to a pay cut was the big step,” Graff wrote.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that Ngakoue took a pay cut to agree to a one-year $12 million deal with Minnesota.
Of course this means that the Vikings didn’t have to cut anybody or restructure deals as of now, which helps the team as a whole. And Ngakoue’s presence on the field? That helps the team, too.