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Patriots Reportedly Claim Pro Bowl Pass-Rusher Before Bears Game
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Patriots Reportedly Claim Pro Bowl Pass-Rusher Before Bears Game

The New England Patriots didn’t make any moves before Tuesday’s trade deadline. Instead, they waited until after the deadline passed to add an addition to their defense.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Patriots claimed pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue on Friday after the veteran defensive end was waived by the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday.

The Patriots will be Ngakoue’s seventh team in his nine-year NFL career. He played in just five games for the Ravens this season and recorded just 1.5 sacks. The 29-year-old is still a long way from his 2017 Pro Bowl season, when he had a career-high 12 sacks and six forced fumbles in the league with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ngakoue also spent time with the Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts, with whom he had 9.5 sacks just two seasons ago.

The Patriots will look to take advantage of Ngakoue’s pass rushing skills as they struggle to consistently apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks. They rank fourth in the NFL with sixteen total sacks in nine games.

Part of that reason is because they traded outside linebacker Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons prior to the season and dealt Joshua Uche to the Kansas City Chiefs last week. Keion White, who the Patriots rely heavily on for their pass rush, got off to a good start with four sacks in the first two games but hasn’t recorded one since.

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The Patriots will inherit the remaining $656,667 of Ngakoue’s salary, according to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald.