The Jacksonville Jaguars were up and at it early Tuesday morning for Day 1 of mandatory minicamp, starting with a presser from coach Doug Marrone. Of course, the main topic of discussion was the status of absent defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, who Marrone offered very little on aside from the fact that he and the former Pro Bowler have communicated.
As for Ngakoue’s contract situation, Marrone elected to evade questions concerning it because he said it’s ultimately Tom Coughlin and Dave Caldwell’s job in the front office. He also told the media that he didn’t want to speak for the defensive end in terms of an explanation of his choice to show up then leave before the conclusion of organized team activities.
The offseason extensions of both Frank Clark and Demarcus Lawrence basically have given Ngakoue the leverage he currently has as both signed deals that will pay them over $62 million in guarantees. Both players have managed to acquire 32 and 26 sacks, respectively, since 2016 while Ngakoue has managed to rack up 29.5.
With Coughlin and Caldwell not available to the media, information on how talks are going will be scarce as it is unclear how serious they are into discussions and how close they are to a deal. That said, fans will basically have to play the waiting game for more info, but one would think the front office would aim to get the deal done before training camp.
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