The Twitter and Instagram accounts of Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue have provided fans with some interesting content as of late, and it a appears more is on the way. Friday, the young defensive end tweeted out “PSA Monday. Stay tuned.” He also included a checkered race flag emoji in the tweet, which seems to be his signature stamp of a victory lap.
When asked by a fan if he was staying in Jacksonville, Ngakoue replied “Good Try,” so it appears whatever he has to announce likely doesn’t involve a long-term deal.
The feeling is that Ngakoue will be franchise tagged before hard long-term contract negotiations begin — if they begin at all. Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell somewhat hinted that the team’s focus for now would be free agency and then the draft in his Combine presser.
Caldwell also specifically mentioned the franchise tag when on Pro Football Talk’s show this week.
“You try to do what’s best for your team [as a general manager] obviously first, and then the player,” Caldwell said to Chris Simms and Mike Florio. “In this case, the player has rights, the team has rights. We didn’t negotiate — at least I didn’t negotiate the rules of the franchise tag or the transition tag and all that stuff. So, we’ll use everything in our power to keep Yannick [Ngakoue] here and hopefully it’s on a long-term deal and if it’s not it would be for a year on a franchise tag.”
To tag Ngakoue, it’s going to cost the Jags upwards of $19 million, which they currently have thanks to the releases of linebacker Jake Ryan and defensive tackle Marcell Dareus which put them at $21.4 million, per Over the Cap. With such an astronomical figure, one would think the Jags would do everything in their power to concoct a long-term deal, which should come with a lower 2020 cap figure.
