Did trading Yannick Ngakoue get the Jaguars enough value in return?
The Jaguars traded Yannick Ngakoue to the Vikings for two draft picks.
After months of trade demands, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue finally got his wish on Sunday. The Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to send the pass-rusher to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft in addition to a conditional fifth-round pick, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The conditional pick could end up being as high as a third-rounder depending on Ngakoue’s performance in Minnesota. It turns into a fourth-round pick if he makes a Pro Bowl and a third-round pick if he makes the Pro Bowl and the Vikings also win the Super Bowl. So if he has the impact Minnesota hopes he does, this could be a highly valuable addition to the trade for the Jaguars.
It’s clear that Jacksonville is focused on rebuilding as they’ve been in the business of shipping off assets over the past year. And adding draft picks, especially in the top 64 selections, is a fantastic way to accomplish that.
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At the same time, it took so long to trade Ngakoue because the Jaguars, for quite some time, were adamant about getting a first-round pick (and more) in return for the pass rusher. But now that the dust has settled and they didn’t get that back, did the Jaguars still make a good deal with this trade?
Did the Jaguars get enough in return in the Yannick Ngakoue trade?
While it might not be a first-round pick, of which the Jaguars already have two thanks to the Jalen Ramsey trade last year, this is a good trade for Jacksonville. The organization put themselves in a brutal position with the salary cap and now they are forced to pay for it by tearing things down so that they can rebuild through the draft.
The simple truth is that no one was going to pay the asking price that Jacksonville had set for Yannick Ngakoue. So getting a second-round pick and a truthfully enticing conditional pick back is a nice haul for a team that needs all of the assets that they can get.
Furthermore, they needed to get something for the pass rusher before they lost any leverage at all. Ngakoue was only hanging on by the franchise tag and wasn’t looking like he was going to show up in any meaningful way for the Jaguars other than to bide his time until free agency. Thus, getting something in return rather than letting him walk for nothing is a win for the Jaguars as well.
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A second-round pick may not change the course of Jaguars history but a vacant spot at defensive end after Ngakoue left in free agency would only do harm for the franchise. This was a deal that had to be made and the Jaguars did the best they could given the circumstances.