Yannick Ngakoue has made it clear that he has no intention of playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars again, but the team apparently cannot find a trade partner for the star defensive end.
Ngakoue was not traded on Day 1 of the NFL Draft on Thursday, and Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell tried to shed some light on the situation. He said the options for Ngakoue are “very limited at this point” and that the team has received no trade offers for the 25-year-old. Caldwell also praised Ngakoue as a player and person and said Jacksonville would love to have him back.
Full quote from #Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell on Yannick Ngakoue pic.twitter.com/oh8f8hOzgz
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 24, 2020
There was a report on Wednesday that claimed the Las Vegas Raiders offered the Jaguars a first-round pick for Ngakoue, but Caldwell said that report was false. We’re inclined to believe the GM, as Jacksonville likely would have traded their disgruntled pass-rusher for that return.
Ngakoue has averaged just over nine sacks a season since being drafted by the Jags in the third round in 2016. He was openly seeking a long-term extension last offseason, and things turned ugly between him and the team this week when he got into it with a Jags executive on Twitter. A holdout could be coming if Jacksonville is unable to find a trade partner, which is even less likely to happen now that the first round of the draft has passed.
