One of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ most important players, Yannick Ngakoue, will be entering the last year of his rookie contract in 2019, basically giving the organization a year to re-sign the former Pro Bowler. However, after Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence received a monster five-year deal that guarantees $65 million Friday, things may have gotten harder for the Jags’ front office if they want to keep their young star.
When looking at Lawrence’s production in comparison to Ngakoue’s since the young edge rusher has been with the Jags, Lawrence has been more productive as a tackler accumulating 133 tackles to Ngakoue’s 81. He’s also been to the Pro Bowl twice and received a second-team All-Pro nod (2017), while Ngakoue has only been once and has no All-Pro accolades for now. However, Ngakoue has managed to accumulate more sacks (29.5) than Lawrence (26) and has started in more games with a total of 47 starts to Lawrence’s 34. All that said, it’s very possible Ngakoue will use Lawrence’s guaranteed mark as the starting point for his contract, and that’s totally understandable from a business perspective.
The good news for the Jags is that Lawrence’s contract doesn’t make him the highest paid defensive player in terms of guarantees as Khalil Mack ($90 million), Aaron Donald (just under $86 million) and Von Miller ($70 million) all beat him out in that category, respectively. Unlike the top-3 highest paid defensive players Lawrence’s contract was a five-year deal as opposed to a six-year one and it included a $25 million signing bonus with a payout of $31.1 million in the first year. It’s possible the Jags could take a similar approach with Ngakoue, but ultimately time will tell.
As for the specific figures, I’d guess Ngakoue could end up signing a five-year deal guaranteeing anywhere from the $65 million Lawrence got to the $56 million Trey Flowers recently got in free-agency from the Detroit Lions.
When asked about the approach the Jags would take with Ngakoue and cornerback Jalen Ramsey earlier this offseason, general manager Dave Caldwell said the team will have to get through free agency and the draft to see where they are, then take a look at both respective situations. Per Over the Cap, the Jags currently have approximately $14.1 million available in cap space and roughly $8.7 million of that will have to go towards their rookie pool. That would leave them with about $5.4 million afterward, which means the Jags would probably need to free up more space for a deal during the season when looking at the first year cap hits of the league’s top pass rushers.
