Defensive End Jadeveon Clowney Still A Free Agent, His Asking Price Is Too High

By Jordan Long

NFL franchises are into training camp.  There is still one player who is looking for a team, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.  He may be forced to miss the year because of his contract demands.

                Clowney has played in the NFL 6 years with two different teams, the Houston Texans who selected him 1st overall in the 2014 NFL draft and the Seattle Seahawks.    In his 6 seasons, Clowney has become one of the best defensive ends in the game.  He rushes the quarterbacks and takes them down for sacks, a total of 32 in his career.

                When it comes to stopping the run, Clowney tackles the runners for short gains.   He has 236 tackles.  Runners and quarterbacks must hold onto the ball tightly when he is near them.  If not, Clowney smacks the football out of their hands for fumbles, forcing 9 while recovering 7 of them.

                The only downside to Clowney is his injury history.  In his 6 years, he has yet to play a full season.  The most games he has appeared in is 16 and that was in 2017.

                Clowney is one of the best players out there in the free agent market.  Teams have been calling trying to sign him to a contract.  The biggest hold up is the money he is asking for.  According to bleacherreport.com, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said, “The wait continues. There is no indication that Jadeveon Clowney is ready to sign today. This could push up right until Week 1. I’ve spoken to several teams and they believe his asking price is still around $17 million per year. Now they haven’t heard exactly just yet because he’s been pretty quiet, but nobody’s willing to pay that right now. He’s gotten multiple offers from multiple teams, anywhere from Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks. He hasn’t budged on that asking price. He’s coming up to a situation where he’s gotta decide if he wants to play this year or could he wait out the entire season, and there’s still several teams heavily monitoring this.”

                If Clowney wants $17 million a year, it is a lot for a franchise to take on.  Not many teams have that amount of cap space to spend on him let alone any player in the NFL at this time.     Even if they do, they need to keep the money in case they are forced to sign another athlete. Unless Clowney comes down from his asking amount, it is possible he may not be on a team this year.