Ravens trade for pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Ravens have acquired Yannick Ngakoue from the Vikings for a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 fifth-round pick. The trade will be complete pending a physical.
Nkgaoue played the previous four seasons as a member of the Jaguars, where he tallied 37.5 total sacks in 63 games. In his 69-game career, he’s made 42.5 sacks and 92 quarterback hits. He’ll be reunited with former Jacksonville Jaguars teammate Calais Campbell once again along the defensive front.
“We are excited to add Yannick Ngakoue to our football team,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement. “Yannick is someone who we are very familiar with going back to the draft process years ago. He is an exciting player and a dangerous pass rusher who makes us better. Yannick grew up here. He’s the type of person we welcome in our building. Finally, we are not finished building this team, as we continue to chase our ultimate goals.”
This offseason, Ngakoue was traded from Jacksonville to Minnesota, but after the Vikings’ poor start, they turned into sellers. Reportedly, the Ravens have been after Ngakoue for a while, but only were able to make a trade happen this week.
The 2016 third-round pick has four consecutive seasons with at least eight sacks and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2017.
Ngakoue will slide in opposite Matthew Judon and give the Ravens a formidable pass rush on the edge, likely the part of their defense that needed the biggest boost. The Ravens have 22 sacks in six games, good for third in the NFL, but 16 of those sacks have come in the last three weeks against three struggling teams in Washington, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.
Now, the Ravens’ pass rush has made a supreme jump in talent from the first part of the season.
