The Ravens have acquired defensive end Yannick Ngakoue from the Minnesota Vikings pending a physical, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta announced Oct. 22.

Baltimore traded a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 fifth-round pick for Ngakoue, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Ngakoue is earning a base salary of $8 million this year. He is scheduled to become a free agent in the spring.

“We are excited to add Yannick Ngakoue to our football team,” DeCosta said in a statement. “Yannick is someone who we are very familiar with going back to the draft process years ago. He is an exciting player and a dangerous pass rusher who makes us better. Yannick grew up here. He’s the type of person we welcome in our building. Finally, we are not finished building this team, as we continue to chase our ultimate goals.”

Ngakoue has racked up 134 tackles, 92 quarterback hits and 42.5 sacks since being drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He played in Jacksonville from 2016-2019 before being dealt to Minnesota in late August. He has five sacks in six games this year, but the Vikings (1-5) decided to move him before the Nov. 3 trade deadline.

Ngakoue played at Maryland from 2013-2015. A native of Bowie, Md., Ngakoue set the Terps’ single-season sacks record (13.5) in 2015 and was named first-team All-Big Ten by coaches and media that season. Ngakoue’s 21.5 career sacks rank fourth in program history.

The Ravens reportedly explored dealing for Ngakoue this offseason, but a deal never materialized due to salary cap concerns. Ngakoue will join Calais Campbell, Matthew Judon, Pernell McPhee, Brandon Williams and Derek Wolfe, among others, on the Ravens’ defensive front.

Baltimore is 5-1 entering its bye week and hosts the Pittsburgh Steelers Nov. 1. Other areas the Ravens could look to improve ahead of the trade deadline include the offensive line and pass-catching corps.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story stated that Ngakoue was playing on a $17.8 million franchise tender. That has been corrected.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

Luke Jackson

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