Yannick Ngakoue, the defensive end acquired for six games by the Vikings from Jacksonville before he was re-gifted to Baltimore for lesser draft pick compensation, might cost Minnesota even more if a Jacksonville fan's crusade is successful.
Follow the bouncing ball: When the Vikings acquired Ngakoue in late August, they agreed to send Jacksonville a 2021 second-round pick and a conditional 2022 fifth-round pick.
The "conditional" reportedly was this: If Ngakoue makes the Pro Bowl, it becomes a fourth-round pick owed. If he makes the Pro Bowl and his team wins the Super Bowl, it becomes a third round pick.
Those conditions transferred to Baltimore upon the second trade in October, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. That means that if Ngakoue makes the Pro Bowl as a member of the Ravens, the Vikings owe a fourth-round pick in 2022. If he makes the Pro Bowl and Baltimore wins the Super Bowl, it becomes a third-round pick.
Fan voting counts for one-third of the means for selecting Pro Bowl selections (with player vote and coach vote accounting for another one-third each).
When voting opened this week, a Jacksonville fan on Reddit started to drum up support for others to join him in voting for Ngakoue, in hopes of improving his team's draft position at the expense of the Vikings.
Now, what isn't exactly clear (and hasn't been reported) is whether the Vikings trade with Baltimore — in which Minnesota received a 2021 third-round Ravens pick and a 2022 conditional fifth-round pick — also carries the same conditions on that 2022 pick. If that's the case, the Jacksonville fan crusade would actually be hurting Baltimore the most.
That said, the Vikings have already lost plenty of draft capital in the deal no matter what. The second-round pick owed to Jacksonville in 2021 would be No. 45 overall based on their current 4-5 record, while the third-round pick they are getting from Baltimore would be No. 86 overall with the Ravens sitting at 6-3.
Then again, the disparity was looking much worse a few weeks ago when the Vikings were 1-5.
The Vikings are 3-0 since trading Ngakoue, who had five sacks and two forced fumbles in six games with the Vikings but had a tendency to be a feast-or-famine player in his short time in Minnesota.
The Ravens are 1-2 since the trade, with Ngakoue registering just three tackles and no sacks in 104 defensive snaps spanning those three games. He ranks No. 40 (out of 43) defensive ends in Pro Football Focus' grades among players with at least that many snaps during that span.
That's no way to make the Pro Bowl, now is it?