The Jacksonville Jaguars got rid of two of their most notable superstars over the past 48 hours as they traded defensive end Yannick Ngakoue of Washington, D.C. to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, and then waived running back Leonard Fournette of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday. The Jaguars are clearly moving toward a rebuild as the 2020 National Football League regular season is 10 days away.
Ngakoue was reportedly unsatisfied with the status of his contract. Ironically according to Zach Links of Pro Football Rumors, Ngakoue is taking a pay cut with the Vikings. He would have earned $17.8 million this season in Jacksonville, but will only be earning $12 million with Minnesota. In the deal, the Jaguars received a second-round draft pick and a conditional fifth-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Jaguars meanwhile reportedly declined the fifth-year option in Fournette’s contract on May 1, 2020. This would have made Fournette a free agent in 2021. The Jaguars reportedly tried to trade Fournette, but were unable to do so, and put him on waivers instead.
Ngakoue led the NFL with six forced fumbles in 2017. That year he went to the Pro Bowl. In 2019, Ngakoue played in 15 games and had one interception for 23 yards and one touchdown, six pass deflections, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, eight sacks, 41 combined tackles (36 solo tackles and five assisted tackles), 13 tackles for a loss and 15 quarterback hits.
Fournette had 265 rushes for 1152 yards and three touchdowns in 2019. He also had 76 catches for 522 yards. Now with Fournette out of the lineup at running back, 23-year-old Ryquell Armstead moves to number one on the Jaguars depth chart.
