Can LA Rams rescue one more Jaguar, this time DE Yannick Ngakoue?

The LA Rams have traded for or signed disgruntled Jacksonville Jaguars players before. Can the team save one more, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue?

The LA Rams seem to enjoy playing the White Knight to Jacksonville Jaguars. The team signed former Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles for a team-friendly contract.  Then the team traded for outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr.  And who can forget the 2019 blockbuster trade which sent shutdown cornerback Jalen Ramsey to Los Angeles in exchange for two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick?

Much like the Jalen Ramsey situation, the Jaguars and DE Yannick Ngakoue are making the type of public statements that reveal deep rifts in the relationship.  Here is the latest tweet dated today indicating that Ngakoue has absolutely no wish to play for the Jaguars in 2020, nor at any time for the foreseeable future.

A year ago, this much distance translated into cornerback Jalen Ramsey remaining on the bench as he “healed”, essentially forcing the Jacksonville Jaguars into a trade. Ramsey was under the last two years of his current contract with the Jaguars.  Ngakoue is a projected 2020 free agent, so what is the issue?

Tag-and-trade

Reports are surfacing that the Jaguars intend to use the team’s franchise tag on Ngakoue. That will force Ngakoue to remain with the Jaguars for one full season, or sit out the entire season. As frayed as this situation is, it feels like a 50/50 either way.  Of course, there is always the tag-and-trade path, where the Jaguars merely apply the franchise tag to control the future of Ngakoue in 2020, and then trade him to an acceptable team.  It’s clear that Nagakoue wants to land in the neighborhood of $20 million per year.

Can the Rams afford that?  Well, the Rams can afford whatever the Rams want to at this point, with access to over $80 million of available salary cap if the team and players are willing to push the cap hits of inflated contracts into the future. And what would the Jaguars want in that trade?

They could not ask for much. All NFL teams know that the Jaguars are on borrowed time with this player. Trying to place a franchise tag on the player is a last-ditch effort by the team to get something out of the deal. That would likely net the Jaguars a fifth-round pick. Any team willing to trade for Ngakoue inherits the same “$20 million per year” demand, and will likely face the same unwillingness to play until that new contract is signed.

While I certainly don’t think it wise to pursue one more player with aspirations for a mega-deal, that hasn’t prevented the Rams from doing so in the past. The options exist. What will it be, Les Snead?  Another occasion to saddle up the horse and play the noble Knight from the house of Rams, ready to rescue another damsel from the House of Jaguars?