Six teams now linked to Jadeveon Clowney.
At this point, whoever signs Jadeveon Clowney better be landing an impact player for their defense.
This has definitely been the strangest offseason that I have ever seen. With Clowney’s medical concerns, lack of production (on paper) and his asking price, you can understand why it would take a while for a team to sign him, but we are now sitting at nearly three months since free agency started and we are no closer to knowing where Clowney will go.
That isn’t fair, we are a little bit closer and right now it does seem like there is a list of six teams actively involved in Clowney’s free agency. Those teams in no order are the: Cleveland Browns, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, and Tennessee Titans.
Now, there are a lot of different reports that involve anonymous sources or rumors so it is hard to tell which teams are truly the most interested. But, I tried to find recent information on all of these teams and use my common sense to figure out which teams were most likely to land Clowney and which teams should hang it up.
This is where the situation stands today.
Team: Cleveland Browns
How likely are they to land Jadeveon Clowney?: 3 out of 10
The Browns are the best place to start because we know the most about them and where they are in their pursuit of Clowney.
Jason La Canfora wrote this most recently about the Browns in the hunt for the prized free agent:
"The word throughout the agent community is that the reportedly “super lucrative” deal he turned down from the Cleveland Browns would have been worth $12M at its base. That’s a far cry from the over $20M a year Clowney initially wanted on a long-term deal."
The reason that I think that Clowney isn’t likely to go to the Browns is because they have a lot of money and clearly weren’t afraid of throwing some to him, but he never got into serious conversations with the team.
With as much interest as the Browns are showing, Clowney is responding coolly and he isn’t narrowing his focus on them. Maybe they end up with Clowney, but if that happens I think it will be because he doesn’t view any teams with offers still on the table “championship-quality” teams.
Team: Seattle Seahawks
How likely are they to land Jadeveon Clowney? 2 out of 10
The Seattle Seahawks are the incumbent here, so they are going to get attention.
Familiarity is really the only connection that I see between the two teams and if they spent an entire season together and the negotiation part of the offseason together and still couldn’t come to an arrangement, then I don’t know why time would help that.
On top of that, you could argue that no player saw a bigger drop off in value this season than Clowney who went from being an EDGE with a franchise tag, to a free agent who has had to drop his asking price at least twice this offseason.
A large part of that drop off is from him missing games, but it feels like every EDGE to go to Seattle has played their best football there, so why wasn’t Clowney more of a factor in 2019? I’m not sure, but teams have to be wary that the team that traded a 3rd round pick for him isn’t willing to meet his asking price.
Team: Baltimore Ravens
How likely are they to land Jadeveon Clowney? 1 out of 10
I absolutely think that Clowney is the type of player that the Ravens want and need, but there are some big issues I have with this potential fit.
First of all, the Ravens are already in a terrible cap situation with only $9 million left to spend this season. If (and that is a big if) the Ravens have enough money to meet his asking price for this season, this also takes away money that could roll over into next season.
Why is that important? Well, next season Lamar Jackson can negotiate a new contract and you can bet that he is going to be pushed by his representation to make a deal now considering the volatility or rushing quarterbacks in the NFL.
The one thing that could make this work is if the Ravens traded Matt Judon (who just signed his franchise tag) and/or Mark Ingram (the Titans should call them about this) who combine for more than $20 million in cap space this season.
If at least one, but preferably both, of those moves, get made then this number would go up but without moves being made I think this is a literal impossibility.
Team: Philadelphia Eagles
How likely are they to land Jadeveon Clowney? 5 out of 10
The Eagles have been quietly mentioned as a team that is looking to add talent at EDGE all offseason.
It all started with a potential Yannick Ngakoue trade earlier in this offseason. The reason that was so strange to me is that the Eagles are already heavily invested in the EDGE position which I outlined in the article linked above:
"Speaking of trades and the Eagles adding pass rushers, if you look over the last three years Philadelphia has added 7 different EDGEs by: -Trading for two -Signing Chris Long and Vinny Curry -Drafting three with a 1st and two 4th round picks So adding EDGEs is a yearly checklist for the Eagles and they have been connected to Yannick Ngakoue ever since the rumors of discontent between he and the Jaguars organization popped up. Some of it was because Ngakoue posted pictures of former Eagles defenders on Instagram and there were plenty of rumors that a deal was being discussed between Philly and Jacksonville."
I bring all of this up because the desire is clearly there for Philadelphia to load up at the position and now they have officially been name-dropped as a team interested in Clowney.
A cap nightmare is coming for the Eagles in 2021 and 2020 may be the last team that we see a lot of this team still intact at multiple positions, so why not make a play for one more piece that might push you into the playoffs? I mean, as long as you can get over what he did to your team last year…
Team: New Orleans Saints
How likely are they to land Jadeveon Clowney? 3 out of 10
The New Orleans Saints are in the news today but not for the reasons they want to be, but that has distracted from this report out this morning that says that a source inside the organization thinks that the Saints are chasing Clowney.
I have a reliable source that confirms the Saints have shown interest in Jadeveon Clowney. Numbers have to be discussed and worked out on a 1 year deal which he is willing to take to get a ring then re-enter free agency.
— Nader Mirfiq (@Nader723) May 27, 2020
All of this checks out. Is Clowney a fit in New Orleans? Sure, even though they probably already have a top-5 EDGE group he could fit nicely as a base end that comes inside in nickel packages to provide more depth.
Would Clowney be interested? Yep, the Saints are close to where he grew up and he has expressed a desire to play for a championship team and the Saints are one of the best bets to make the playoffs in the NFL.
The catch is that the Saints just don’t have any money and they may be in the worst cap situation of any team on this list with less money than the Ravens and a massive dept coming in 2021.
If they can figure out a way to make some room this would probably bump up to a 6 or 7 out of 10, but for now that is a pretty massive hurdle.
Team: Tennessee Titans
How likely are they to land Jadeveon Clowney? 6 out of 10
I still think the Tennessee Titans are the best team for Jadeveon Clowney and I think it is evident that the team is interested in him.
It seems like a weekly exercise that a coach for the Titans will be asked whether or not they want to sign Clowney only to be met with glowing reports on his effort or coachability. That is notable because, for every other free agent that I can remember, the Titans coaches and front office staff have always been incredibly reluctant to admit anything about the player at all.
As recently as today we have seen reports that Clowney’s max contract offer right now is from the Browns at $12 million on a one year deal. If you remember, I noted nearly a month ago that rumors were starting to creep around that Clowney wouldn’t make double-digit millions per year.
The Titans are going to have around $18 million to play with this year which is more than enough to get this deal done and still have some wiggle room to look at some other players if they feel like they need to patch some more holes on the roster before the season starts.
Coaches, players and front office members all want him in Nashville, I have to think that even if they “overpay” for him and give him $12 million or a little more for a one-year deal it would be the best situation for everyone involved.
Plus, if Clowney booms this season and gets a massive contract from someone else, the Titans can add another 3rd round comp pick and give Tennessee more chances for premium depth on what should be one of the five or six best rosters in the NFL.