Sep 5, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a Baltimore Ravens helmet against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images.
Yannick Ngakoue will experience routine playing time on Sundays.
The former Minnesota Vikings pass rusher joined the Baltimore Ravens’ active roster on Tuesday, a call-up from the practice squad.
Ngakoue played wonderfully on Sunday, helping the Ravens chip off the upstart Washington Commanders, and the veteran defender logged a sack in limited playing time. Baltimore’s coaching staff evidently saw enough for the long haul.
The Ravens’ main social media team tweeted Tuesday, “We have signed OLB Yannick Ngakoue to the 53-man roster. We have released offensive lineman Sala Aumavae-Laulu and released DB Damarion Williams from the practice squad.”
These are Baltimore’s current outside linebackers:
Ngakoue has served as a year-by-year pass-rushing mercenary for hire since his Vikings stop. Here’s his NFL resume to date:
Ngakoue last played for the Chicago Bears, signing with the Vikings’ rival during the 2023 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, featuring Ngakoue and Danielle Hunter. 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 70 sacks in 125 career games. He was at the peak of his powers in 2017 and even made the Pro Bowl.
The Ravens also employ former Vikings nose tackle Michael Pierce.
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 Vikings 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.