Now, at least part of Jadeveon Clowney’s free agency is coming to fruition. NFL teams are indeed starting to experience some training camp attrition and there may eventually be a need to add another piece to a championship-caliber roster.
After talking to a crowd of sources who participated in a pursuit for Clowney, his southerners seem to be thinner than growing.
The Cleveland Browns made their best pitch and offered Clowney more money and salary / year combinations than any other NFL team to date. He beamed and they ran. If he had the chance to end up in Cleveland now, it would be for solidarity less than the $ 18 million- $ 19 million window that was available to him before the training camp began.
Jadeveon Clowney would be a solid addition to any NFL roster at this point in training camp. But his asking price may be too high. (AP Photo / Rick Scuteri, file)
The interest of the Tennessee Titans is there, but not on the current issue of Clowney, which seems to be set at $ 17 million for one of its preferred landing sites. Ditto for the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders. There is even some question about the depth of interest within the Raiders, as one source familiar with the organization said that there is a “varied” appetite for the Clowney pursuit, depending on whether you are with head coach Jon Gruden or general manager Mike talking Mayock. The source said Mayock Square appears to be in the same “price point” camp as the Titans and Seahawks.
As for the others who have shown some angry interest, the New York Jets have not been in the picture in free agency since and the Baltimore Ravens briefly talked about Clowney in May, but then soon bailed on that interest. and turned her energy around to get Matthew Judon to fold on his franchise bid.
Add it all up and you basically have a picture with three teams between the Seahawks, Titans and Raiders. And of that trio, the Titans and Seahawks make the most sense in terms of the ability to add Clowney late in the preseason, due to his familiarity with the arrangements and / or coaching staff.
But what has not happened with this point is some team that is costing its services in mid-August – whether because they are not happy with the performance of their depth card at the edge of defense, or because of injuries. That does not mean it will not happen, but three general managers involved in Clowney’s pursuit told Yahoo Sports that they were actually less inclined to sign him now than they were early in the summer.
The reasons behind that declining interest were different, but all three agreed that a one-year discount looks less attractive the longer Clowney stays out of camp. At least in part because of the growing injury fears within teams now players are recovering from extensive eight months of zero contact. One general manager pointed to the McCoy injury as part of the reason for added concerns about Clowney.
“[Clowney] is a younger player and he carries his weight better, but he also has a history of small kneeling things and also some serious things, ”said the general manager. ‘It doesn’t have to be a big one [injury] like McCoy. As [Clowney] occasionally comes across some kind of soft tissue that drags on, which can be a months-long thing or even a season-long thing. And I know we will see more of the soft tissue as the pads come up. He might think he is preventing something by sitting out and taking his time, but it is in my opinion not at all positive. Especially with all the other things we are used to. ”
So what’s the consensus with Clowney? The assumption is that he will be quiet by the end of this week and that interested teams will be forced to take new approaches at the beginning of the new week – with the design of getting him into a building by the end of August, what a team would give essentially two weeks to acclimatize to him before the start of the season. But one thing seems pretty clear: Teams do not see the risks better in the comparison, so the money does not either. Especially with the lack of income that team owners already have, their finances (and salary caps) have looked much different than they did six months ago.
‘I just do not see it [$17 million-$18 million] he wants to happen, “said one general manager, adding that he would still be open to adding Clowney for a more fashionable number.” We are not sitting near him. I know what his brand is. It’s in principle two teams [Seattle and Tennessee] and not one of them comes on his number. [Cleveland] was as good as it would get. I do not think that will change in a week, so he has made a decision whether he wants to play. ”
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