Yannick Ngakoue began his NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a third-round pick in 2016. Four years, 37.5 sacks, and a Pro Bowl appearance later, Ngakoue left the team on bad terms.
Now, after three seasons apart, there’s reportedly interest from both sides in a reunion.
“It would not be out of the realm of possibility for them to bring a guy in and Yannick Ngakoue’s a name I hear a lot,” ESPN’s Michael DiRocco said in an appearance on 1010XL on Tuesday. “I just don’t know if he’s willing to accept that role and I think the money he’s asking for — from what I’ve heard — is not in an area the Jaguars are willing to go at this point. That’ll be interesting to keep an eye on after the draft.
“I hear that he’s potentially interested in coming back, but he wants to be an every-down guy. He’s certainly asking for the best contract he can get, but I think the Jaguars can be a little bit patient and play a little bit of a waiting game on some of these guys because as we get into May and we get into June and some of these guys are still not signed, well, things start getting a little bit desperate in their camp and you can get a little bit better deal on some of these guys.”
Ngakoue, 28, was a breakout star early in his career with the Jaguars and began extension talks with the team in 2019, but negotiations broke off when the team reportedly offered the pass rusher a short-term deal. A year later, things got nasty when Jacksonville used the franchise tag to keep Ngakoue from reaching free agency, despite him saying publicly that he wanted to leave the team.
A month after receiving the tag, Ngakoue got in a social media spat with Jaguars executive Tony Khan, which eventually ended with the pass rusher saying “just trade me.”
Four months later, the Jaguars did exactly that, sending Ngakoue to the Minnesota Vikings for a second-round pick that was used to select offensive tackle Walker Little.
Ngakoue was later traded to the Baltimore Ravens in October 2020, signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021, and was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. In his three seasons away from Jacksonville, Ngakoue has 27.5 sacks.
