"What teams have that kind of money that can create a contract like that? It's going to be a lot of money"
Tuesday 12 May 2020 19:14, UK
Two premier pass rushers, both looking for new teams, both facing differing circumstances.
Jadeveon Clowney played the role of spectator to a free agency frenzy in March after coming out of his 2020 season with the Seattle Seahawks as a presumably in-demand commodity. The Jacksonville Jaguars meanwhile applied an unwelcome franchise tag to Yannick Ngakoue, who has made no secret of his wishes to move on from the team on social media.
Now into May, both are yet to resolve their respective dilemmas, with financial barriers and compensation proving hindering factors.
Clowney was reportedly looking for a deal averaging $21m per season at the beginning of free agency, according to ESPN. That has since been lowered to around $17m in reaction to less interest than his camp had perhaps anticipated.
"I'm a big Jadeveon Clowney fan," NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger told Sky Sports. "I talked to him the second week of the season last year before the Pittsburgh game and he had just gotten signed.
"He was learning the defense, he didn't have an offseason so wasn't in the greatest football shape and I think it worked against him. He was banged up a little bit last year. I think he could be a dominant player in this league."
Clowney was traded to the Seahawks by the Houston Texans in August 2019 in exchange for Jacob Martin, Barkevious Mingo and a 2020 first-round pick. He went on to record 31 tackles, three sacks, four forced fumbles and one interception returned for a touchdown in 13 games to help Seattle reach the playoffs.
Team general manager John Schneider recently played down the chances of bringing Clowney back for next season, admitting to KJR-AM 'we need to be conducting business, and he just was not in a position to make a move'.
Baldinger added: "What are you're going to pay him? You probably sign him to a one-year deal. Go earn it, get yourself 12 sacks and be a dominant player.
"Help your defense become a top 10 defense like they were in Houston and then negotiate the long-term deal. If teams are willing to do that, if Jadeveon is willing to do that, then I think the possibility happens."
Elsewhere in Jacksonville, Ngakoue has piled onto a tumultuous rebuild that has seen the Jaguars trade Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams, Calais Campbell to the Baltimore Ravens and A.J. Bouye to the Denver Broncos since the start of October.
They also allowed Marcell Dareus to become a free agent this offseason and declined the fifth-year option on running back Leonard Fournette.
Ngakoue wants part of the exodus and did his best to speed up the process recently by engaging in a Twitter exchange with Jags co-owner Tony Khan. He wrote "Just trade me. I don't need the speech" in response to an explanation of his situation from Khan, who then cited the need for better compensation.
"Jalen Ramsey will show you you can get out of a place if you rant long and hard enough," said Baldinger. "He's got 37.5 sacks and 14 forced fumbles in four seasons. He's not Chase Young but he's as good as anybody else in the draft.
"The problem with Ngakoue, first of all you've got to figure out the compensation with Jacksonville, which isn't going to be cheap but he was a third round pick so what's the value?
"Then you have to sign him. What teams have that kind of money that can create a contract like that? It's going to be a lot of money. His best choice is to probably stay in Jacksonville but I'm sure teams will call to see what the compensation is first."
The 2020 NFL Draft passed by without any real indication of a substantial offer for Ngakoue, who remains set to start the new season as a Jag and part of an intriguing defense including first-round pick K'Lavon Chaisson and second-year pass rusher Josh Allen.
