Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell Shoots Down 'Unsubstantiated' Yannick Ngakoue Trade Rumor
On Wednesday night, a report via Michael Lombardi of The Athletic stated the Jacksonville Jaguars were close to trading former Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue.
On Thursday afternoon, it became clear there was little to no substance to the report, and Ngakoue would remain a Jaguar, at least for the time being. Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell even addressed the report during an interview with Charles Davis and Alex Marvez on SiriusXM NFL, in which he pointed out that there would be nothing to come via the reports.
“Well, the unsubstantiated report really kind of caught me off guard too,” Caldwell told SiriusXM on Thursday. “So, I don’t know where it came from or who it came from. But, if he’s being traded, I wish somebody would let me know. So, obviously, we’ve had discussions with teams, but as of one o’clock today, that report was pretty erroneous.”
Ngakoue, 25, stated in March that he had no interest in signing a long-term deal in Jacksonville, but the team still placed the franchise tag tender on him later that month. Thus far, Ngakoue has yet to sign the tender and report to training camp, making him the only franchise-tagged player this offseason who has not done so.
Ngakoue has been in a back-and-forth dispute with the Jaguars all offseason, but his issues stem back even further than that. Ngakoue was seeking a new deal in the 2019 offseason but the Jaguars and Ngakoue's camp failed to find much middle ground, leading to a short training camp holdout for Ngakoue. Since then, the relationship between the two sides has appeared rocky at best.
Ngakoue has requested a trade publicly multiple times this offseason, but thus far the Jaguars have refused to facilitate a deal, likely due to their large asking price for the player who has the second-most sacks in franchise history.
“I don’t know the person that tweeted that,” Caldwell said about Lombardi's reports. “But, obviously he didn’t pay very close attention to detail. You know, obviously we’re working with the player and his agents, his new agents and trying to come to a good resolution for everybody.
"Right now we are in a holding pattern, he is in a holding pattern. But we are having contact with him and his agent. We have talked to some teams but there is nothing immediate that is going to happen here."
The fact that the Jaguars have talked to teams about Ngakoue is far from news -- this is something that has been public knowledge for some time. The real question is if the Jaguars will be willing to budge from their high asking price on Ngakoue at any point. So far, it has appeared the Jaguars are dug in and are wanting to keep their veteran pass rusher.
"As far as the Yannick situation goes, you would have to talk to him. I’m very cautious of speaking for him. I know he and I have been in contact the last couple of days, but that is for him to discuss," Caldwell said on Aug. 11.
"He’s earned the right to play his contract out, and he’s earned the right to do what’s best for him and his family. So I’m going to defer any of his future questions to him and try to keep our conversations between he and I."
In four seasons, Ngakoue has recorded 37.5 sacks (second-most in franchise history), 14 forced fumbles and 42 tackles for loss. Ngakoue recorded eight sacks, four forced fumbles and tied a career-high in tackles for loss with 13 last season.
