The Baltimore Ravens need pass-rushing help and the Jacksonville Jaguars are likely to tag-and-trade Yannick Ngakoue. Could the Ravens be a dream fit?
It’s no secret that the Baltimore Ravens pass-rush was lacking in 2019, which is why it’s the biggest need for the team entering the 2020 offseason. Star edge rusher Matt Judon, who led Baltimore with 9.5 sacks last year, is expected to be franchise tagged, but he could be traded rather than resigned. The Ravens could explore all sorts of different avenues to strengthen their pass-rush even if Judon is back for 2020, and that includes a trade for Jacksonville Jaguars’ edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
Since coming into the league in 2016 (the same year as Judon), Ngakoue has 37.5 sacks and has never had less than eight in a season. Ngakoue is ferocious off the edge and has a knack for strip-sacks (14 career forced fumbles). Ngakoue was projected to be one of the top free agents available before the Jaguars franchise-tagged the 24-year old. Unfortunately for them, Ngakoue really wants out of Duval County.
There’s been drama between Yannick Ngakoue and the Jacksonville Jaguars throughout the last year as evident by Ngakoue’s series of cryptic tweets. However, Ngakoue made his thoughts pretty clear this past Monday that he doesn’t want to be back with the team in 2020:
The Jaguars are aware I no longer have interest in signing a long term contract in Jacksonville. Duval, I love you and gave you guys everything I got. I’m thankful for the journey and look forward to continuing my career elsewhere. -91
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) March 2, 2020
The Jaguars conspicuously wound up franchise tagging Yannick Ngakoue not long after this tweet and has us wondering what’s next. The obvious answer is that Jacksonville will look to trade Ngakoue to the highest bidder. The Baltimore Ravens should be on the phone to bring him back to the state he went to college at.
Bringing in Yannick Ngakoue would be a drastic upgrade for Baltimore’s pass rush and allow them to get younger in the front-seven (turns 25-years old at the end of March). The cost for Ngakoue would probably be a second-round pick, but the Ravens may be able to swing him for a third-round selection for him given the current predicament the Jaguars are currently in with him.
The biggest obstacle here is what the team should do with Matt Judon and their relatively tight salary cap situation. The Ravens currently have just shy of ~$31 million to play with and can recoup around ~$12 million by cutting Brandon Carr, James Hurst, and Sam Koch, all of which would be tough decisions to make. Still, franchise tagging Matt Judon would take north of ~$15 million and the team has other key free agents like Michael Pierce and Jimmy Smith to potentially retain.
Acquiring Yannick Ngakoue would be around the same as Judon’s franchise tag value, if not closer to ~$18 million depending on what position he gets tagged with. Keeping both and cutting the three aforementioned players would cost the Ravens ~$34 million with ~$8 million to use for their 2020 NFL Draft class. It’s a squeeze, but not impossible.
The bottom line here is that the Baltimore Ravens should absolutely be in play for Yannick Ngakoue regardless of what they do with Matt Judon. The team needs to get better at rushing the passer if they want to compete for a Super Bowl in 2020 and Ngakoue does just that for them.