Yannick Ngakoue’s antics hurt the Jaguars and help the Seahawks

After months of Yannick Ngakoue and the Jaguars being at odds, it appears to have reached a boiling point. The Seahawks should cash in on this opportunity.

Yannick Ngakoue and the Jaguars have been at odds for months now. This seemed to have peaked on Monday during an argument on social media between Ngakoue and co-owner Tony Kahn. Keep your eye out for Ngakoue’s trade value to drop and the Seahawks to be in hot pursuit.

After being franchise-tagged, Yannick Ngakoue formally requested a trade. While the Seahawks were one of the teams to call in asking for the Jaguars trade demands, the price was simply too steep. In fact, it appears the asking price was too steep for just about every team in the NFL. A report dropped on Monday that not a single team has placed a formal offer in for the star defensive end due to the price tag the Jaguars have put on him.

This is where things got ugly. When Yannick Ngakoue read the report, he lashed out at co-owner Tony Kahn. The two biggest takeaways would be that Ngakoue and the team reportedly agreed that his last game in Jacksonville had already occurred. The other is that Ngakoue’s trade value just plummeted to record lows.

There is no denying the vast amount of talent that he possesses. He made it to the Pro-Bowl in just his second year in the NFL. Over the first four years in the league, he has amassed at least 8 sacks each season, including 12 in 2017. When you watch Ngakoue play, he has an excellent feel for the game. He attacks the offensive line like a chess game. He anticipates the opponent’s attack and counters it. His sky-high football IQ, excellent hand placement and precise footwork help make him one of the top defensive lineman in the NFL.

His work ethic and body of production is precisely why Jacksonville was trying to cash in on his exit. However, the process appeared to be much slower than Ngakoue was anticipating. After Monday’s melee on social media, Jacksonville will likely need to take what they can get in a trade. At this point, that is far less than their original asking price (likely a first and second-round pick).

My new proposed trade:

This trade would allow Jacksonville an opportunity to start anew and still accrue a 2nd round pick. While this may be a disappointment to Jaguar fans, there will still be a plethora of vastly talented offensive tackles, running backs and wide receivers on the board in that range. This would help them continue to rebuild without the distractions and cap restraint of holding the star defensive end against his will.

For Seattle, this helps bring another bonafide star to the Pacific Northwest. Seattle would bring a player that is guaranteed to generate pressure on the quarterback for pick #59 instead of gambling on an edge in a questionable defensive end draft class. Now that the trade has occurred, an extension will need to be in place to help Seattle take on his cap hit.

What a contract extension could look like:

Terms: 3 years, $54 million

Avg: $18 million

Cap hits by year:

• 2020: $11 million
• 2021: $20 million
• 2022: $23 million

The contract comes a little lower than I originally had him in at. I believe the spat will cause more damage than just to his trade evaluation. First, Seattle will likely be unwilling to breach into 4-5 year contract range. This is simply to protect the team in case he becomes cancerous to the locker room (which I believe is unlikely).

Second, the team can point back that he wanted to get out so bad that he got into a spat on social media with the co-owner of the team. He specifically mentioned that his wanting to leave was not because of the money, but because of how his situation was handled. Seattle is one of the best-run organizations in the NFL. It is time to put his money where his mouth is.

Seattle was willing to offer Clowney a 3-4-year deal at $18.5 million. There is no reason to think they would not offer a similar deal to a younger, hungrier and less injury-prone star defensive end. Seattle ends upbringing in the star power that Russell Wilson publicly asked for and they do it without jeopardizing their draft capital. Let 12s call this a win-win-win.