Ngakoue needs to go
What in the world is going on in Jacksonville? The Jags decided to offer defensive end Yannick Ngakoue a reported $19 million contact annually before last season and he turned it down. He had an 11-day training camp holdout and played last season for just $2.025 million. This for a guy that had recorded 29.5 sacks in three seasons. Even Scottie Pippen would have taken that contract (watch the MJ Doc).
So on March 13, Jacksonville applied the non-exclusive franchise tag to Ngakoue on March 13, which means he would earn $17.8 million last season. He already turned down $19 million, would have made nearly $18 this season and yet to sign the tender. Maybe he and his agent Ari Nissim couldn't deal with executive VP Tom Coughlin.
They can't make that excuse now because Coughlin is gone. Tony Khan now is bearing the brunt of Ngakoue, who has gone nuts on Twitter. Khan, the son of owner Shad Khan, and President of the new wrestling organization All Elite Wrestling is now senior vice president of football administration and technology with the Jags.
On Monday afternoon, he got into it with Ngakoue on Twitter. ″It’s a new regime here sir,″ Khan wrote. ″I think you form the bottom of my heart for all of the contributions you made. That said, tweeting insults at me won’t get you traded any faster. Only good trade compensation will do that. Please redirect your efforts into a more productive outlet.″
Maybe Tony Khan has been watching too much wrestling and his own product. Ngakoue is going to get the last word and he's well, 25 and tweeted back a clown face. It's probably not the best business move to get into a Twitter war with a young, talented athlete. Why didn't they attempt to trade him as soon as Coughlin was let go? Now, they are going to have to trade him before the NFL season begins (whenever that is). Nobody is going to give what he is really worth because they know he will holdout again if he's still a Jaguar at training camp.
As for Ngakoue, there are a lot better ways to handle it. Sure, he might be playing for a clown organization, but is he really going to get that kind of money elsewhere? He's also lowering his value by acting like a clown on Twitter.
Thank you, NFL. You help us get through the worst of times.
