After career with Jaguars, Yannick Ngakoue says he wants his next team to have a 'winning culture'
Yannick Ngakoue still very much wants to be traded away from the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he has only one idea in mind for his next destination. He wants to land with a team that has a winning culture.
The disgruntled Jaguars defensive end said in an ESPN interview on Tuesday that all he wants to do is join a winner. The Jaguars hit Ngakoue with the franchise tag last month despite him outright saying that he will not sign an extension with the team.
From NFL.com:
"I'm not really sure what team I will be landing at, but what type of team that I would love to join is a team that has great culture," he said. "I really want to be part of a team that has great culture and winning is a habit. I don't want to be part of a team that losing is a norm or anything of that nature. I want to be part of something special. Also, I just want to go to a place where I can make a great impact on the community, and just reach out to younger people that look up to me."
Whether or not that’s a shot at the Jaguars, it’s understandable why Ngakoue would be seeking such a team. Over the last two years, the Jaguars have clearly not had a great culture.
They might have even had the worst culture in the NFL, given that they fired executive vice president Tom Coughlin after the NFLPA publicly hammered him for an environment in which players’ CBA rights were repeatedly ignored. Oh, and the team has finished in last place in the AFC South in back-to-back years after making the AFC Championship game in 2018.
So it’s understandable why Ngakoue might be looking for something different from that.
What will it take to trade for Yannick Ngakoue?
Whoever lands him, Ngakoue will be due $19.3 million under the non-exclusive franchise tag for defensive ends. You would imagine any team will want Ngakoue to sign an extension if they’re going to pay the draft capital the Jaguars are likely seeking for their Pro Bowler.
Ngakoue reiterated that he believes his time with the Jaguars is over:
"(Talks on a long-term contract) kind of broke off," he said. "Everything happens for a reason, and not everything lasts forever. Things come to an end, and it's time for me to move on to the next chapter of my career. And I'm forever thankful for what Jacksonville has brought to me and my family, but it's time to move on."
Ngakoue has been among the more productive defensive ends in the league since the Jaguars picked him up in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft. In four seasons with the team, Ngakoue has averaged 26.3 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 9.4 sacks per year.
We’ll see how much teams are willing to pay for that kind of player.
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