NY Jets: Jaguars GM calls Yannick Ngakoue trade rumors ‘erroneous’

The NY Jets may not be trading for Yannick Ngakoue, at least according to the Jaguars’ GM.

The NY Jets were the talk of the trade rumor mill on Wednesday following reports that the team was attempting to trade for Jacksonville Jaguars start pass-rusher, Yannick Ngakoue.

The Athletic’s Michael Lombardi reported on Wednesday that the Jaguars were “extremely close” to a trade involving Ngakoue and that the Jets were the team that was “heavily involved.”

But in the hours after that initial report, multiple sources came out denying its legitimacy.

First, it was Ngakoue’s own agent who claimed that the report was made up and that no trade was happening. That notion was supported by Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News who shared the same sentiment.

And on Thursday, another notable name joined the list of individuals to question the legitimacy of Lombardi’s initial report. This time, it came from a source directly involved in the supposed trade.

Jaguars’ general manager David Caldwell spoke about the report on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Thursday and claimed that it was “pretty erroneous” and that “if [Ngakoue’s] being traded I wish someone would let me know.”

Now, he did state that they have “had discussions with teams,” but he made sure to iterate that nothing was imminent.

It’s impossible to say exactly who is telling the truth and how much validity anyone’s statement holds. After all, NFL trades are rarely black-and-white affairs.

That being said, with numerous sources — including two that would be directly involved in a possible trade — refuting what Lombardi said, it’s best to take everything with a grain of salt.

Don’t expect the NY Jets to trade for Yannick Ngakoue anytime soon.

At the moment, it still seems as though a trade — at least involving the Jets — is unlikely to happen. And when you take a step back, that makes sense.

Trading for Ngakoue would certainly be an anti-Douglas type of move. He isn’t one to trade away draft capital for players who are in need of big-money extensions.

But with the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft, you never really know. His philosophy might change.

Still, nothing seems imminent right now and it would be surprising if something did happen before the start of the season.

At least it was fun while it lasted.