Colts trade for Yannick Ngakoue to finally land elite pass-rusher
The Indianapolis Colts have acquired defensive end Yannick Ngakoue in a trade that will send Rock Ya-Sin to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Indianapolis Colts have been relatively quiet through the first few days of the legal tampering period but they have finally made a big move that will fill one of the team’s needs.
Wednesday afternoon, Indy negotiated a deal that includes sending cornerback, Rock Ya-Sin, to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
The trade is a straight player-for-player trade and Indy now has a dominant pass-rusher.
Sources: #Raiders pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue is expected to be traded to the #Colts in a deal that includes CB Rock Ya-Sin.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2022
Colts finally get edge help in Yannick Ngakoue
According to Ian Rapoport, Indy and Las Vegas have been working on this trade for the last 24 hours but some things had to fall into place for it to go through.
The domino that needed to fall was the Raiders landing a pass-rusher. Wednesday afternoon, Tom Pelissero reported that Las Vegas was finalizing a deal with four-time Pro Bowler Chandler Jones, and a few minutes later, the news of Ngakoue being traded to Indy broke.
Ngakoue now gets to continue playing under the Colts’ new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. Ngakoue and Bradley linked in Las Vegas last season and Yannick had one of the best years of his career in Bradley’s system.
He recorded 10 sacks, eight tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles for the Raiders.
The cost for Ngakoue was a young talented corner in Rock Ya-Sin that was getting better by the year. In his third season last year, Ya-Sin had his best year as a pro and looked like a dependable corner that Indy would be able to rely on.
Considering that Indy has been working on the trade since Tuesday, the signing of defensive back, Brandon Facyson makes sense. Facyson has played his entire career in Gus Bradley’s system and gives Indy corner help as they will work to replace Ya-Sin.
For now, the story is Ngakoue joining an Indianapolis defense that has been desperately searching for pass-rushing help. Yannick gets to play alongside other star defenders DeForest Buckner, Darius Leonard, and Kenny Moore.
With the new addition and implementation of Bradley’s system, the Colts defense could cause trouble for the rest of the NFL.
