Could Yannick Ngakoue be on his way to the Vikings?

Is there a chance that the pass rusher could land with the Minnesota Vikings?

A few days ago, the Minnesota Vikings found out that the upcoming season will officially be their first without Everson Griffen on their roster since 2009.

Griffen and the Dallas Cowboys recently reached an agreement on a one-year deal and the veteran pass rusher will find out what life is like with another logo on his helmet this season.

His departure also means that the Vikings will have a new starting right defensive end this year. Ifeadi Odenigbo appears to be the leading candidate right now, but could Minnesota turn to the trade market to add a more talented pass rusher?

Minnesota Vikings in the running for Yannick Ngakoue?

Current Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue has been a part of trade rumors for the majority of the 2020 offseason. Nothing has resulted from it, but a recent report indicates that the Jaguars might have finally reached a deal to send Ngakoue packing to a new team.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that Jacksonville is, “extremely close,” to trading the defensive end and a deal could happen within the next couple of days according to The Athletic’s Michael Lombardi.

Ngakoue has been unhappy as a member of the Jaguars for quite a while and despite his desire to leave, the team still decided to place the franchise tag on him earlier this year. With the tag, Ngakoue carries a cap hit of about $17.8 million this season.

Shortly after Lombardi’s report was released on Wednesday, OverTheCap.com’s Brad Spielberger said that the Vikings could be a possible, “sleeper destination,” for Ngakoue.

Spielberger went on to explain that he thinks this might happen since Minnesota didn’t re-sign Griffen this year and they already attempted to make a big splash trade earlier this offseason when they tried to acquire offensive tackle Trent Williams.

The Vikings ending up with Ngakoue would be great, but the team’s current financial situation might prevent a move like this from happening.

Minnesota currently has around $12.6 million in cap space and as we mentioned earlier, the Jacksonville defensive end has a cap hit of $17.8 million this year.

To acquire Ngakoue, the Vikings would either have to give the defensive end a new multi-year contract that lowers his 2020 cap hit or send one of their players who has a high cap hit over to the Jaguars in the deal.

Among the guys on Minnesota’s current roster who would create at least $6 million in cap space if they were traded this year, Riley Reiff, Anthony Harris, and Kyle Rudolph seem like a few of the players who the team could potentially include in a deal to acquire Ngakoue.

The 25-year-old defensive end has accumulated a total of 37.5 sacks since entering the NFL in 2016. Ngakoue has a bright future in the league and the Vikings pass rush would immediately transform into one of the NFL’s best with his arrival.

Will Minnesota get a deal done?