As of late the rumor mill has been hot when it comes to Yannick Ngakoue, however, according to Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell, there are no plans to trade him. In an interview with Alex Marvez and Charles Davis of Sirius XM Radio, Caldwell called the rumors “erroneous” and added that the news caught him off guard.
.@Jaguars General Manager Dave Caldwell addresses the trade rumors surrounding DE Yannick Ngakoue…
"If he's being traded, I wish somebody would let me know."
👇MUST LISTEN👇 | #Jaguars | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/l3eRDJfbir
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) August 20, 2020
Caldwell’s statements come after an offseason where Ngakoue declared he didn’t want a long-term deal with the Jags. Afterward, they franchised tagged him which further frustrated Ngakoue and caused him to demand a trade via Twitter in an exchange with Tony Khan. Despite all of the friction, however, the Jags didn’t trade the young defensive end during the draft or before the tag extension deadline due to no team meeting their request.
Caldwell added that both parties were in a “holding pattern” with each other, but remained in contact as Ngakoue has new representation. While that still leaves a lot of questions, it marks a little progress because the team was previously saying they hadn’t heard from Ngakoue.
On Wednesday, NFL insider Tom Pelissero stated that he believes the Jags want a “second-rounder and some change” based off the teams he’s spoken with who’ve contacted the Jags. He added that Ngakoue and the Jags’ relationship has “been better” since his change in representation, but said that Ngakoue still preferred to be traded.
