How much is Yannick Ngakoue worth to the Jacksonville Jaguars?

With his recent decision to sit out mandatory minicamp, the question looming for the Jaguars is how much are they willing to pay defensive end Yannick Ngakoue?

How much are the Jacksonville Jaguars willing to spend to keep defensive end Yannick Ngakoue happy? It remains the question the front office must answer in an attempt to keep the young pass rusher happy and part of this defense for the future.

As other pass rushers cashed in this offseason, receiving new deals that hovered around the $100-million plateau, Ngakoue, who is in the final year of his rookie deal with the Jaguars, told reporters during OTAs he wasn’t worried about the money aspect of football, but missed multiple practice sessions and then announced he would not be present for mandatory minicamp.

It’s a saga that may not play out over the five-week layoff between now and the beginning of training camp. It also becomes a dark cloud that rests above TIAA Bank Field until a deal gets done. This is not what should be headlining a solid month of practice and a commitment to fixing the team’s offensive woes.

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Is Ngakoue, who has 29.5 sacks in his three seasons in the league, worth that much money and is Jacksonville willing to negotiate a deal that could eclipse quarterback Nick Foles deal with more than $50 million in guaranteed money?

Now that Ngakoue has missed minicamp, are the Jaguars concerned this decision to remain absent will carry over into training camp and the regular season? Maybe they should be.

"“Ngakoue wants to be paid for what he is: one of the best young pass-rushers in the NFL,” writes Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. “Because of the huge deals that DeMarcus Lawrence and Frank Clark signed this offseason, Ngakoue’s price tag likely will be around $100 million.”"

Is there a school of thought that Ngakoue would be willing to give Jacksonville a “hometown discount” if more money was guaranteed and there was a substantial signing bonus? All of this also factors into negotiations and the waiting game. I am also curious how this deal – that has not been completed yet – factors into how much money cornerback Jalen Ramsey will seek next season in contract negotiations.

The Jaguars are still in the “win now” window of competing for a playoff berth given the roster on defense and the improvements made on offense. Having this albatross around the franchise’s neck makes the future of the franchise something worth watching.

"“Since 2016, Ngakoue has more sacks than [Demarcus] Lawrence (26), who received a guaranteed $65 million from the Dallas Cowboys,” DiRocco added. “And more than Dee Ford (25), who signed a deal with the San Francisco 49ers that guarantees him $45 million. And more than Trey Flowers (21), who signed a deal with the Detroit Lions that guarantees him $56 million.”"

Our own Kathy Clark had a few ideas on how to re-sign Ngakoue to a long-term deal here on Black and Teal this past week.

The Jaguars have approximately $6 million left to spend this season now that all their rookies are under contract. The team is awaiting word of $9.75 million given back to them if linebacker Telvin Smith sticks to his decision to sit out 2019.

The team will have cap space next season if there is any truth to the idea of moving on from both Calais Campbell and Marcell Dareus, which frees up another $35 million.

And asking high-priced veteran cornerback A.J. Bouye and left guard Andrew Norwell to restructure their contracts is not out of the question. These Jaguars are walking into 2019 believing they will be in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt. In order to do that, Ngakoue needs to be in camp and not a distraction to this organization.

The only thing left to decide is how much are they willing to pay for a player who has meant so much to them from the moment he signed his rookie deal.