Movement finally took place in the edge rusher market this week, with the Bills and Broncos respectively bolstering their defenses by adding Leonard Floyd and Frank Clark. Younger than each while riding an unmatched active sack streak, Yannick Ngakoue remains a free agent.
The NFL’s only player with at least eight sacks in each of the past seven seasons, Ngakoue entered the offseason as one of the top free agent defenders. He resided behind only Marcus Davenport among edge players on PFR’s top 50 free agents list, and although DeAndre Hopkins and Dalvin Cook have hit the market, the well-traveled defensive end still has a case as the top player left unsigned.
Ngakoue is making an effort to accelerate his market. The seven-year veteran signed with agent Drew Rosenhaus, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The famed power broker will now attempt to land Ngakoue a quality deal — likely with a sixth NFL team. Adisa Bakari had previously represented Ngakoue.
After a four-year Jaguars run, Ngakoue has since bounced to the Vikings, Ravens, Raiders and Colts. He has not played for the same team in consecutive years since his Jacksonville stay ended via a tag-and-trade transaction. Known as a pass rusher with suboptimal run defense skills, Ngakoue profiles as a quality complementary edge but certainly could make a case to be the top presence on certain teams.
Going into his age-28 season, Ngakoue is coming off a 9.5-sack slate for the Colts. He served as Indianapolis’ lead sack artist last season and teamed with Maxx Crosby in Vegas, registering 10 QB drops in 2021. While Ngakoue has spent three seasons with Gus Bradley (in three cities), he has also produced with other defensive coordinators. He set a career high with 33 QB hits for the 2018 Jaguars and forced an NFL-leading six fumbles for the ’17 Jags, helping that team to the AFC championship game.
This year’s top UFA edge defenders have not enticed teams to commit multiyear deals. Prior to the ice thawing on the veteran wing last week — via the $7MM and $5.5MM guarantees given to Floyd and Clark — Davenport agreed to a one-year, $13MM deal ($10MM guaranteed) with the Vikings. That said, Arden Key and Samson Ebukam, the latter of whom replacing Ngakoue in Indianapolis, did well for themselves in March. Ebukam fetched a three-year, $24MM deal ($10.8MM guaranteed), while Key signed a three-year, $21MM accord that came with $13MM locked in.
Given Ngakoue’s career path and three-month free agency stay, he might need to settle for another short-term deal and follow the Jadeveon Clowney route. But ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler indicates the former third-round pick is still looking for a multiyear commitment (Twitter link). Ngakoue’s pass-rushing production warrants such a commitment, and unlike Clowney, injuries have not been an issue (four missed games in seven years). Clark and Floyd’s deals also did well to set a veteran edge market, and while Ngakoue will likely look to eclipse Floyd’s guarantee, it will be worth monitoring to see if he holds out for multiyear agreement.
Maybe instead of changing agents, he should learn how to be an asset instead of a liability against the run.
Bears, please.
Would You Believe????
My sources tell me that he dumped Agent 86
and signed on with Agent 99.
ALMOST
Missed it by THAT MUCH !!
The odd thing about Ngakoue is that no one ever says anything about him at all. There is never a statement from any of the teams. No team has ever put out a ” Both parties agree” or ” Its time to” or “A different Direction” or “Coaching/scheme change”, it’s just the end of season and he becomes a free agent.
Not sure why any GM would want to deal with a player agent who once represented Antonio Brown. Rosenhaus would have made a great snake oil salesman.