The Las Vegas Raiders have agreed a deal to sign four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Chandler Jones, with Yannick Ngakoue set to head to the Indianapolis Colts in a trade.
According to multiple reports, Jones will join the Raiders on a three-year deal worth roughly $51million.
It follows a stellar six-season spell in Arizona, which saw him record double-digit sacks in five campaigns.
Since 2015, his final year with the New England Patriots, only Aaron Donald (89) has more sacks to his name than Jones (84). No player has forced more fumbles than Jones (27) in that span.
Though he is now 32, Jones showed little sign of slowing down for the Cardinals last season, registering 10.5 sacks as Arizona returned to the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 campaign.
His move to the Raiders sees him reunite with Josh McDaniels, the two having crossed paths during their time in New England, where McDaniels was the offensive coordinator before taking the job in Las Vegas this offseason.
Jones will immediately step in for Ngakoue, who finished last season with 10 sacks, his first time reaching double digits since 2017 with the Jacksonville Jaguars (12), and will hope to do the same for a Colts team that was 20th in pass rush win rate, according to Stats Perform data, in 2021.
Heading the other way is cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, a former second-round pick of the Colts coming off a statistically impressive season.
Ya-Sin allowed a burn, which is when a receiver wins his matchup with a defender on a play where he is targeted, on 46.8 per cent of targets last season. The average for corners with at least 25 targets was 51.3.
He allowed 5.92 burn yards per target, the fewest among corners (min. 25 targets) and 0.90 burn yards per snap (third fewest), illustrating the limited separation Ya-Sin allowed receivers.
Between the arrivals of Jones and Ya-Sin, a defense that allowed the eighth-fewest yards per pass play (5.91) in the NFL last season will hope to produce sterner showings against opposing aerial attacks under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.