The Jacksonville Jaguars’ saga with pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue became a bit more interesting this week as he’s called them out on several occasions. He first started off the week by stating both sides should move on because the Jags haven’t handled the business aspect of their relationship well.
The following day, he also called out a Jacksonville reporter who put out an editorial, which called out Ngakoue for his statements about the Jags limiting his ability to feed his family. He also gave the Jags a piece of his mind on Instagram for their posts praising a player who could replace him in Dawuane Smoot.
Afterward, he continued to call out the Jags on Wednesday by confirming something we’ve stressed all along at Jags Wire and that was the fact that the front office handled his contract situation poorly.
Ngakoue was particularly talking about last July’s situation where the team tried to extend him but abruptly ended negotiations at the end of the month, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Not only was the Jags’ offer a short-term deal that probably lacked the proper guarantees, the unwillingness or half-hearted attempt to negotiate (like other organizations do with their stars) likely frustrated Ngakoue. Now, we’re at this point where Ngakoue seemingly feels the relationship can’t be repaired.
We spoke with NFL insider Ian Rapoport on Ngakoue’s situation this week and he stated that he believes the Jags do want to keep Ngakoue, though teams have shown interest. However, it takes two to tango if such a relationship is to work, which means Ngakoue’s desire to leave could come down to a trade. With Dave Caldwell’s job on the line, that could only come if a team wows them like the Los Angeles Rams did to acquire Jalen Ramsey.
