The free agency appears to be a bit different for star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Sources around the league report that Clowney isn’t currently getting the kind of offers he was expecting this offseason.
Clowney entered this year’s free agency expecting to reset the DE market with a massive contract. However, the offers he received so far were underwhelming, showing that teams are unwilling to spend big on him.
One of the reasons might be that he had a down year for his standards in 2019, while also struggling with injuries. He ended up playing 13 games with the Seattle Seahawks, contributing with 31 tackles, and 3.0 sacks, which was the lowest since his rookie year.
As Garafolo points out, this kind of situation might help Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks acquired Jadeveon Clowney last year in a trade with Houston Texans and reiterated several times that they are interested in keeping him around. However, Seahawks were reluctant to give Clowney a mega-deal he wanted, and now, there is a chance they won’t have to.
Clowney entered the league as the Texans’ first overall pick in 2014. Since then, he made three Pro Bowl appearances between 2016 and 2018, while also earning one Second-Team All-Pro selection.
While this is a worthy resume, it’s understandable that it isn’t glowing enough for teams to pay him as he was the best player in his position. One the other hand, it’s rare that players of Clowney’s caliber enter the free agency in his prime, so anything is possible.
