Jadeveon Clowney isn’t the only one who can shop around.
It looks like the Seattle Seahawks are set up to sign a 2019 Pro Bowl EDGE, but it may not be Clowney.
Everyone has forgotten about Everson Griffen who quietly ended up on the market when this madness was starting to get going. While Clowney was biding his time to get his best deal, he may have inadvertently ended up costing himself a shot to return to the Seahawks:
Source close to former #Vikings DE Everson Griffen says he definitely has interest in signing with Seattle Seahawks and they could be interested in him if they don't re-sign DE Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney remains domino that likely needs to fall before Griffen signs with any team.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) March 31, 2020
Now, that clearly says that Clowney is the domino that needs to fall first but now the Seattle Seahawks aren’t as desperate as they were a week or two ago. If this falls through then they aren’t out of luck, they just go to option 1B instead of forcing a fit somewhere else.
You could make the argument that traditionally Pete Carroll and the Seahawks have had more success with players like Griffen who have been in the latter part of their career and who have a specific niche on defense.
Making the connection even stronger is that Griffen played his entire college career with Pete Carroll at USC and the two get along well enough for this to be a possibility.
From that standpoint, Carroll has coached Griffen for four times longer than he coached Clowney, albeit a decade ago. Maybe the most comfortable option for Carroll isn’t Clowney who missed a decent chunk of the season last year.