Things haven’t been good for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ fans in the recent few days. Leonard Fournette might be traded, Marqise Lee was released, and Yannick Ngakoue wants out at any costs.
Cam Newton’s Recruitment Might be the Cause for Fournette’s Trade
Recently, Jags’ running back Leonard Fournette publicly stated that the team should sign Cam Newton, who was released from the Carolina Panthers. For some, it was a good idea. However, it seems that interfering franchise’s free agency strategy made some folks within the organization pretty angry.
Shortly after these comments, the Jaguars became open for trading the former No.4 pick and one of the best RBs in the league. There wasn’t any official confirmation that his “Cam Newton recruiting” was, in fact, the real reason for a possible trade, but everything points in that direction.
Fournette posted 1,152 rushing yards in the previous season, as well as 522 receiving. He was arguably the best player of the team from Jacksonville, and according to many, the cornerstone for all the future plans this franchise had.
It seems that such plans are no longer active.
Marqise Lee Released After Six Years
The 28-year old who spent his entire career with the Jaguars was released earlier today. The reason for such a radical act of the team were his constant injuries because of which he appeared in just six games over the last two years. He would have only three receptions for 18 yards during that time.
Having in mind that Jacksonville gave Lee a four-year 38 million extension in 2018, and that afterward, he didn’t contribute to the team in any way, this was a logical thing to do.
Per sources, Lee solved all his health problems and is awaiting the next season fully recovered and ready to play. Still, that was not enough for the Jaguars.
Yannick Ngakoue Wants Out
It is no secret that the strong defensive end wants out of Florida. He isn’t hiding that at all. However, the latest development suggests that he could be losing his patience. Ngakoue entered a written exchange of words with the son of the Jags’ owner, Tony Khan.
Khan is the vice president of football administration and technology, and is pretty active in the club. Now, after Ngakoue wrote #FREEYANN on his Twitter account and called out Khan, the VP responded, and all hell broke loose. The bottom line was that the 25-year old player waned to be traded as soon as possible.
All the factors are indicating that the team might not be willing to do that, as they already put a non-exclusive franchise tag to Ngakoue, which would cost them $17.8 million, which is a few million below the players’ demands.
The two parties had negotiations during the previous year, but all that stopped after Ngakoue refused a deal, that would bring him $19 million per season. It seems that he expects more than $20 million annually, especially after certain players of his caliber signed similar deals during this and past summer.
All in all, the near future for Jacksonville is going to be pretty turbulent.
