Philadelphia Eagles: Yannick Ngakoue trade talks are likely finished

The Philadelphia Eagles’ dream of trading for Yannick Ngakoue is likely finished.

Stud edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue has been rumored to the Philadelphia Eagles all offseason long, but it appears the link between the two may finally be dying off. Ngakoue and the Jacksonville Jaguars failed to reach a contract extension before Wednesday’s 4PM deadline. This makes things next to impossible for Howie Roseman and the Eagles to swing a deal for the former Pro Bowler.

If you’re not familiar with how the franchise tag deadline works, here’s a brief overview of all it’s workings. For players who were franchise tagged by their respective teams, they have up until a certain deadline to work out an extension. This allows teams to agree upon longterm deals which can aid in cap space restructuring down the road (Chris Jones and the Kansas City Chiefs for example).

Players can also be traded prior to the deadline, and then be allowed to sign an extension with their new team. This would have been ideal for a team like the Philadelphia Eagles as they are set up for a cap space nightmare in 2021. By trading for Ngakoue prior to the deadline, they would have been able to agree to a backloaded contract extension, minimizing the cap hit he would have over the next two seasons.

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If a franchise tagged player is neither traded nor signed to an extension, he must play on the predetermined franchise tag no matter what. Even if said player is traded to a new team later in the year (Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks last year for example), he still is required to play out the one year franchise tag before signing a new extension.

Players have opted to sit out in the past (Le’Veon Bell) if they truly don’t want to play for their current team, and this is definitely something Ngakoue could do considering his relationship with the Jacksonville ownership.

Ngakoue is now set to have a cap hit of $17.8 million in 2020, and while he is genuinely one of the best young edge rushers in the NFL, that’s quite a hefty price considering he would be a rental at this point in time.

Not only would Howie Roseman and the Eagles have to give up substantial trade compensation to actually acquire Ngakoue, but they would also have to inherit the $17.8 million cap hit. While they can technically afford it at the moment, it would absolutely destroy any shot at “carrying over” unused money into 2021. This is something the team desperately needs considering they are projected to be $50+ million over the cap next season.

On top of all that, due to the franchise tag restrictions previously mentioned, there’s no guarantee Ngakoue would even re-sign with the Eagles following 2020. Players have given verbal commitments in the past, but look no further than last year where the Seahawks gave up an entire trade package for Clowney just to see him walk in free agency the following year.

Ngakoue to Philly was a move that made a lot of sense at one point in time for the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s young, productive, and was showing some serious interest in joining the team. However, with the franchise tag deadline now having come and gone, the chance for a deal to happen between the two sides is next to zero.