Dave Caldwell says a Yannick Ngakoue deal may take some time

A contingent of the Jacksonville Jaguars are in Mobile, AL this week for the Reese’s Senior Bowl, checking out prospects for the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. General manager Dave Caldwell is in attendance and chatted a bit with Jaguars.com senior writer John Oehser and was asked about the future of pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue.

“It’s a deal that we feel like could take a little bit of time but should be done hopefully relatively easily,” Caldwell told Oehser.

Caldwell said at the end of the season press conference that one of the priorities this offseason was to bring back the pass rusher and reiterated that again with Oehser that the Jaguars would love to have Ngakoue back.

Ngakoue ended the season with eight sacks, making it four seasons in a row in his short NFL career of at least eight sacks. He has been a consistent producer on the Jaguars defensive line and would seem to be a perfect foil for rookie pass rusher Josh Allen going forward. It remains to be seen if the Jaguars will be able to lock him up long term, but at the very least it appears they’re headed for a franchise tag.