The Las Vegas Raiders haven’t been incredibly busy as teams can begin to make deals with players ahead of the start of NFL free agency, but they haven’t been altogether quiet either, with the team reportedly agreeing to terms with pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the Raiders were close to a deal, and now it has come to fruition, giving Las Vegas one of the best pass-rushers in the game.
This is now done: The #Raiders land one of the top pass-rushers available. https://t.co/edndJCWacm
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 15, 2021
Along with landing Ngakoue, the Raiders seemingly got him to sign on the dotted line for a great price. Las Vegas and Ngakoue have agreed to a two-year deal at about $13 million per season.
Former Ravens’ LB Yannick Ngakoue reached agreement on a two-year, $26 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2021
The question now for the Raiders is which direction does it go from here. Landing Ngakoue is a giant leap in the right direction for the storied NFL franchise, but a lot of more work needs to be done on the defensive side of the football.
Along with agreeing to bring in Ngakoue, the Raiders lost wide receiver Nelson Agholor to the New England Patriots. Agholor agreed to a deal with the Patriots for the same numbers at two years, $26 million.
Patriots are giving former Raiders’ WR Nelson Agholor a two-year, $26 million deal, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2021
It’ll be interesting to see if the Raiders have another wide receiver lined up or they truly intend to spend the bulk of their salary cap on defensive upgrades like Ngakoue.
Despite bouncing around the league a bit in 2020, Ngakoue remained productive as he finished the season with 8.0 sacks, 23 solo tackles and four forced fumbles. He’ll be a welcome addition to Jon Gruden’s squad as Las Vegas looks to become a formidable force defensively next season.
