Yannick Ngakoue Trade Rumors: Raiders 'Kicking Tires' on Disgruntled Jaguars DE

The Las Vegas Raiders are reportedly "kicking the tires" on a veteran pass-rusher as the 2020 NFL draft approaches. 

Vic Tafur of The Athletic noted the AFC West team is exploring trading for Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue but noted the two sides "are not close" and haven't quite reached the stage of exchanging compensation offers. 

Tafur pointed out Ngakoue would "have to sign a tender first, but Raiders could free cap space quickly."

This comes after Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk cited a source who said the Jaguars "want too much" for the pass-rusher even though there is still "hope" a trade can be made before or during Thursday's draft.

Florio also explained the Raiders would likely want to come to terms on a long-term deal with Ngakoue since they would have his rights for one year and $17.78 million if he were to accept the one-year franchise tender.

Ngakoue is just 25 years old and has been a consistent pass-rushing force throughout his career.

He has at least eight sacks in each of his four seasons since the Jaguars selected him with a third-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft and notched 12 sacks, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in a Pro Bowl season in 2017. The Jaguars also made the AFC Championship Game that year.

The edge-rusher is coming off a 2019 campaign that saw him tally eight sacks and four forced fumbles and would seemingly be someone in high demand.

However, he has made headlines for more than just his on-field play this offseason, especially when he engaged in a testy exchange of tweets with Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan:

Still, the Raiders could use the help along the defensive line considering they finished a mere 24th in sacks last year with 32 and have struggled to replicate the lost production of Khalil Mack after trading him to the Chicago Bears prior to the 2018 campaign.