Yahoo Finance Unhappy Yannick Ngakoue hasn't reported to Jaguars or spoken to head coach Doug Marrone
Edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue has spent the last several months very publicly hating on his team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and begging them to trade him. They haven’t obliged. With training camp starting, he now has an official way to register his extreme discontent: by not showing up.
Head coach Doug Marrone told the media on Thursday he hasn’t heard from Ngakoue, who is the last player missing from camp.
Jaguars coach Doug Marrone says DE Yannick Ngakoue is only player not at camp. Says he has not had any conversations with Ngakoue.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) July 30, 2020
The Jags hit Ngakoue with the franchise tag back in March, which Ngakoue has said he won’t sign. Now he’s absent from camp and hasn’t told a soul on the Jaguars about it. This is not a good sign, but trouble has been brewing between Ngakoue and the Jags for quite some time.
How Ngakoue and the Jags got here
Ngakoue has been desperate to get off of the Jaguars for months. He was looking for a big payday after his 2019 season, and was certainly worth one, but he absolutely did not want to stay on the Jags or sign a long term deal with them. He made that abundantly clear on Twitter in early March.
The Jaguars are aware I no longer have interest in signing a long term contract in Jacksonville. Duval, I love you and gave you guys everything I got. I’m thankful for the journey and look forward to continuing my career elsewhere. -91
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) March 2, 2020
Literally three minutes after he tweeted that, it was reported that the Jags had hit Ngakoue with the franchise tag. He’ll make $19.3 million in 2020, which is a lot of money, but it wasn’t as much as he wanted (and not as much as he deserved).
Not surprisingly, Ngakoue was pretty irked at this. On his 25th birthday, he again asked the Jags to trade him on Twitter.
Let’s agree to disagree . Why hold a man from taking care of his family. It’s obvious my time is up in my current situation. Let’s both move on @Jaguars 🏁 https://t.co/XvGcSAQQkH
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) March 31, 2020
We don’t know what the Jaguars got Ngakoue for his birthday, but certainly it wasn’t a trade to another team. Then in an interview less than a month later, Ngakoue said he wanted his next team to have a “winning culture.” Ouch. But he continued to remain on the Jags.
A few weeks later, Ngakoue got into a public Twitter spat with Jaguars co-owner and executive vice president Tony Khan.
I’m not in hiding sir, I’m in isolation getting ready for the draft. I’ve been pretty active on social media in isolation, but you wouldn’t know that since you unfollowed me (again).
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) April 20, 2020
Since your feeling might today let’s both let the world in on the truth. We been had a discussion that the chargers game was my last game. Yet you try to back door the situation without answering any of my camps calls. Smh you spoiled bra.. holding up people for no reason 🤡
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) April 20, 2020
It’s a new regime here sir. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the contributions you made here. 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
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) April 20, 2020
Just trade me . I don’t need the speech 🏁
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) April 20, 2020
You guessed it: still no trade. Not even when he went after the team’s co-owner on social media.
Now we’re at the start of training camp. Ngakoue hasn’t signed his franchise tag. He still despises the Jaguars. The Jaguars have still not traded him, despite reportedly turning down an offer that included a Pro Bowler. And Ngakoue has failed to show up to training camp or communicate with his head coach. Despite everything that’s happened already, it seems like this drama is just getting started.
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