Yannick Ngakoue said he will play this season even if he doesn’t get a contract extension

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue said he won’t hold out this season even if a contract extension doesn’t get done, according to Daniel Popper of The Athletic.

Ngakoue is entering the final year of his rookie contract, so it’s pretty clear he is angling for a new long term deal, as he should be. The former third round pick has played well above his rookie deal, emerging as one of the more disruptive pass rushers in the NFL since his rookie season.

Yannick Ngakoue has racked up 29.5 sacks over the past three seasons along with 70 quarterbacks hits and 10 forced fumbles. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2017 and nearly had back-to-back double digit sack seasons, missing out in 2018 with 9.5 sacks, even with a slow start to the year.

Ngakoue reported to the first set of voluntary workouts, then skipped and is now back again for OTAs, so I think it’s pretty clear that he is looking for a new deal but has shown the team a sign of good faith by initially reporting, making his point, and coming back into the fold.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up with a new long-term deal prior to the start of training camp.