Raiders get reminder of awful Ngakoue-Jones 'swap'

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. Robert Scheer/IndyStar Staff-USA TODAY Sports

Raiders get reminder of awful Yannick Ngakoue-Chandler Jones 'swap'

By Joaquin Ruiz | Last updated 11/9/22

In March, the Las Vegas Raiders essentially swapped defensive ends, trading 27-year-old Yannick Ngakoue to the Colts for the financial room to sign 32-year-old free agent Chandler Jones. Eight months later, the two will be on the same field when the Raiders host the Colts on Sunday.

The signing of the older, more popular name over keeping the younger player has backfired for the Raiders.

In nine games, Jones only has 0.5 sacks, far from what the team expected. He is also owed $6M more than Ngakoue ($32M to $26M), per Spotrac, making his contract hard to move.

Ngakoue played well in his lone year with Las Vegas, starting 17 games and accumulating 10 sacks among 28 tackles. He's on a similar trajectory this season, with 4.5 sacks through nine games.

Yannick Ngakoue's 3rd down sack #Colts pic.twitter.com/VTAe9RN89m
— @ (@FTBeard7) October 7, 2022

Jones had a similar '21 for the Cardinals, making 10.5 sacks among 41 tackles. He helped lead Arizona to the seventh-best passing defense.

Per Sports Illustrated, first-year Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler said Jones has been impactful. Even though the numbers don't support his beliefs, Ziegler believes the signing will pay off.

"We'd like him to finish at the quarterback more, he'd like to finish at the quarterback more ... just like I said with Derek [Carr], or just like I said really for every other member of the team, he needs to continue to get better and continue to improve his craft."

If Ngakoue clearly outperforms Jones on Sunday, though, it will add to the embarrasment for the Raiders (2-6).

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