Ex-Vikings Defender Signs with Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens’ defense rank 25th in the NFL through three weeks per EPA/Play, and to help fix that odd circumstance, they signed an old friend and former Minnesota Viking on Monday.
Ex-Vikings Defender Signs with Ravens
He’s Yannick Ngakoue, [in]famous for a seven-week pit stop in Minneapolis four years ago.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted Monday, one day after Baltimore’s win over the Dallas Cowboys: “More pass-rush help on the way: Ravens are bringing back DE Yannick Ngakoue, who last played in Baltimore in 2020, per source. The 29-year-old Ngakoue has 69 career NFL sacks.”
Ngakoue will join the Ravens’ practice squad, meaning he’ll be one call-up away from the active roster on gamedays.
These are Baltimore’s outside linebackers with the Ngakoue addition:
- Odafe Oweh
- Kyle Van Noy
- David Ojabo
- Tavius Robinson
- Adisa Isaac
- Joe Evans (Practice Squad)
- Yannick Ngakoue (Practice Squad)
Ngakoue has served as a year-by-year pass-rushing mercenary for hire since his Vikings stop. Here’s his NFL resume to date:
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2016–2019)
- Minnesota Vikings (2020)
- Baltimore Ravens (2020)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2021)
- Indianapolis Colts (2022)
- Chicago Bears (2023)
- Baltimore Ravens (2024–present)
Ngakoue last played for the Chicago Bears, signing with the Vikings’ rival last offseason. He broke his ankle in December, and that was that for his career in Chicago. He also tried out for the Miami Dolphins roster during the summer, though no contract materialized.
On August 30th, 2020, Yannick Ngakoue was dealt to the Vikings early on a Sunday morning for a 2nd-Round pick in 2021 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2022. Ngakoue was at a contractual impasse with the Jaguars at the time, a team in full sell-off mode after reaching the AFC Championship in 2017. The Vikings seized the bait and sought to employ a duo of EDGE rushers that would inspire nightmares. The combo turned out to be Ngakoue and Ifeadi Odenigbo, not Ngakoue and Hunter.
The Vikings’ 2020 pass rush was miserable — the worst in the NFL, in fact. The pass rusher was then traded to these very Ravens in what felt like the beginning of a fire sale as the Vikings stood at 1-5 entering the 2020 bye week. The fire sale never extended beyond Ngakoue, but Minnesota emphatically threw in the towel on the high hopes for its 2020 pass rush. Instead, Odenigbo received more playing time, providing the coaching staff with intel that he was not a long-term starting asset on the defensive line. He was released in 2021.
Ngakoue played about 600 defensive snaps in 2023 for the Bears and earned a miserable 39.9 Pro Football Focus grade.
All told, Ngakoue has notched 69 sacks in 123 career games. He was at the peak of his powers in 2017 and even made the Pro Bowl.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.