JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Unless a trade is made, Yannick Ngakoue has a change or a heart or the Jacksonville Jaguars make him an offer he can’t refuse, the defense will have to wait until 2021 to get a long-term agreement.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday morning that Ngakoue had had contractual discussions with other teams to help facilitate an exchange, but the deadlock is the team’s refusal to part with him. There were rumors of a blueprint for an exchange, but general manager Dave Caldwell said no team had made an offer, which may be due in part to the fact that the team wanted a choice. of first round under the agreement.
The deadline for signing a long-term contract extension for players labeled free is 4 p.m. ET Wednesday. If Ngakoue does not sign an extension by then, he will have to play the 2020 season for the $ 17.8 million franchise number, whether with the Jaguars or another team.
The Jaguars could still strike a deal with a team after Wednesday’s deadline, but any team negotiating for Ngakoue, 25, could also use the franchise tag on him for 2021, which would essentially put him in the same place it turns out this year if the two parties could not agree on a long-term agreement.
It could potentially unfold as it did for linebacker / defender Jadeveon Clowney and the Houston Texans last season, and this strategy has hurt both the team and the player.
Houston used the franchise label on Clowney in 2019, but he didn’t want to sign the one-year deal with the Texans, and he suspended his training camp. On August 31, the Texans traded Clowney for the Seattle Seahawks for linebackers Barkevious Mingo and Jacob Martin and a third-round pick. Mingo signed with the Chicago Bears in April, and Martin remains with the Texans as a linebacker. The Texans also had to pay $ 7 million on Clowney’s $ 15 million salary.
This trade took place after the deadline for a long-term deal, and the Seahawks agreed not to use the franchise label on Clowney in 2020, essentially renting it out for a season.
Clowney is still looking for a team for the 2020 campaign. He was not signed to free agency after his reported asking price was $ 20 million a year. He has since scaled down that request, and Clowney said in June that he has a plan in place and will sign with a team before training camp begins.
A similar trade-off is a less likely scenario for Ngakoue, as what the Seahawks have abandoned for Clowney – who has 32 bags in six seasons – probably wouldn’t be good enough for the Jaguars to part with Ngakoue, who has 37.5 bags . four Seasons.
Ngakoue therefore has a difficult choice to make if he is not traded and accepts a long-term contract before the deadline: he could swallow his pride and play this season for the Jaguars under the franchise label. Or he could sit down and leave almost $ 18 million on the table. It would be a surprise if Ngakoue were seated – especially with the uncertainty of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic – but there is another recent precedent from a player who did.
Ball carrier Le’Veon Bell did not participate in the 2018 season and left $ 14.5 million on the table after the Pittsburgh Steelers used the franchise label on him. However, it was the second year in a row that the Steelers had tagged Bell, who wanted a long-term deal and got one in 2019 with the New York Jets.
If Ngakoue were to sit, he would join Bell and defensively tackle Sean Gilbert (1997) and Dan Williams (1998) as players who sat a year because they did not sign their label at the opening of the season, by ESPN Stats & Information. research.
The Ngakoue-Jaguars saga has been playing for almost 10 months. It started last July when executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin abruptly cut off negotiations with Ngakoue and his agent, Ari Nissim. Jaguars allegedly offered Ngakoue a deal that would pay him $ 19 million a year, but Ngakoue refused, and he played last season – after an 11-day training camp – for $ 2.025 million, a huge bargain for a player who had 29.5 bags in three seasons.
A few hours before the deadline, there seems to be at least some movement – but it might be too late.
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