July 15 Deadline Comes and Goes Without a Deal for Jaguars, Yannick Ngakoue
Wherever Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue plays in 2020, he will officially be playing under the franchise tag designation after the 4 p.m. deadline to sign a long-term deal came and went without action on Wednesday.
Ngakoue has been seeking a contract extension for the past two offseasons but over recent months he has made public demands to be granted an exit from the Jaguars organization. So far, the Jaguars haven't budged, instead placing the franchise tag on the 25-year-old in March.
"The Jaguars are aware I no longer have interest in signing a long term contract in Jacksonville. Duval, I love you and gave you guys everything I got. I'm thankful for the journey and look forward to continuing my career elsewhere," Ngakoue tweeted in March before the Jaguars tagged him.
Since then, things have only continued to unravel and the relationship between the parties has, at least publically, continued to deteriorate. Ngakoue has engaged in Twitter back-and-forths with team co-owner Tony Khan and has consistently made it clear that he doesn't want to play in Jacksonville in 2020 one way or another.
The Jaguars on the other hand have played the situation mostly quietly, digging in their heels and not giving in to the disgruntled Ngakoue's demands, much like they did with cornerback Jalen Ramsey last fall before eventually trading him to the Los Angeles Rams for a haul of high-profile draft picks.
There reportedly has been interest among NFL teams in trading for Ngakoue but thus far the Jaguars haven't reciprocated the interest, presumably due to a lack of proper compensation in the form of draft picks. Ngakoue is a former Pro Bowler who has 37.5 sacks and 14 forced fumbles in four seasons who isn't even 26 yet, so it is clear why the Jaguars would place a high value on Ngakoue.
"As far as that goes, I try not to comment too much on the situation. I try to be very pragmatic about it. Truth be told, we exercised the franchise tender. We weren’t able to get a trade. Actually, weren’t even really able to get an offer," Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said when asked about Ngakoue following the first round of the NFL Draft in April.
"So, I think his options are very limited at this point in time. We’ll welcome him back with open arms when he’s ready to come back and we look forward to it. Yann, for the people on this call and who have been around him realize he is a tremendous player, tremendous person, has always been first-class in everything he’s done here in the locker room and through his time here, the first four years of his contract. Obviously, he feels things have not gone the way he wanted and, in some aspects, he may have a point. But we put our best foot forward not once, but twice. I hope he sees the light that Jacksonville is a good spot and it could, at the end of the day, be his only option.”
So far, there has been zero momentum toward Ngakoue signing the franchise tag tender Jacksonville placed on him in March. If Ngakoue does sign the tender, he will be on a one-year deal and be guaranteed $17,788,000 in 2020, which would be the highest cap hit on the Jaguars' roster and the fourth-highest cap hit among all defensive ends. Ngakoue is scheduled to be a free agent in 2021.
Jacksonville could still trade Ngakoue, much like the Houston Texans did with Jadeveon Clowney in a similar situation in 2019. The Texans couldn't even score a top-50 pick for Clowney, however, and it remains to be seen if the Jaguars would be comfortable in taking a similarly less than ideal haul.
