There appears to be trade interest for Yannick Ngakoue

Will the Jacksonville Jaguars trade defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. ending an offseason soap opera that looked like it had no end in sight?

Yannick Ngakoue has yet to sign his franchise tag tender as it appears there are teams looking to make a trade offer to the Jacksonville Jaguars for his services this season.

According to Kevin Patra of NFL.com, the possibility of a trade deal between the Jaguars and another NFL team is picking up steam. Ngakoue has until tomorrow at 4 PM to sign his franchise tag offer from the organization of $17.8M.

Both the Jaguars and Ngakoue have been at an impasse since the pass rusher told the team in March that he did not want to seek a long-term deal to stay in Jacksonville and made it known he wished to be traded this offseason.

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So far, the Jaguars have dug their heels in the dirt as there hasn’t been a deal offered yet the team has accepted. All the while, Ngakoue has used social media as a way to voice his displeasure that he remains a member of the organization.

"“Sides have until 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday to strike a deal,” Patra writes. “The defensive end franchise tag is worth $17.8 million in 2020. The 25-year-old has yet to sign the tender. Until he does, he’s not under contract and cannot be fined for skipping training camp practices, which are scheduled to begin later this month.”"

The Jaguars spent this offseason adding players to their defense with the intention of playing with or without one of their best players on the roster. This continues to be one of the featured storylines of the team’s offseason, which also included a back-and-forth confrontation on Twitter with team executive Tony Khan.

Yannick Ngakoue has been a machine for the Jaguars defense since the team drafted him in the third round in 2016 – the same draft that produced Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack. Ramsey was traded last season to the Los Angeles Rams in what can only be described as an ugly divorce.

Jack was given a contract extension and then proceeded to have an underwhelming season. Ngakoue had eight sacks and continued to be a terrorizing pass rusher for the Jacksonville Jaguars despite the defense playing some of the worst football in many years.

Even if Ngakoue does not sign his tender at the deadline tomorrow, there is still a possibility a deal would be worked out if the Jaguars’ front office were offered compensation it thought was fair for their former Pro Bowl end.

As Patra wrote, it may be a bit more difficult, but it is not an impossibility.

"“Once the deadline passes for getting a multi-year contract done, it’s usually harder for trades to be consummated — teams generally don’t want to give up valuable assets to obtain a player on a one-year deal who owns leverage,” he adds. “… Last year, on the eve of the regular season, the Houston Texans traded Jadeveon Clowney to Seattle. The trade compensation, however, wasn’t great for Houston.”"

Part of the issue that may halt a deal from getting done is the compensation the Jacksonville Jaguars are looking for, which was a first-round pick around the NFL Draft. If the front office lowers its demands, it could be the first step toward a deal getting done and the saga between both sides coming to an end.