What is the market for Jadeveon Clowney?
Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson and Terez Paylor discuss the market for Jadeveon Clowney and a possible mystery suitor. Subscribe to the Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Video Transcript
TEREZ PAYLOR: One player who'd be very fortunate or would feel fortunate to have a similar payday-- he's still waiting-- is Jadeveon Clowney, who's a really interesting case. He just turned 27 years old.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes.
TEREZ PAYLOR: He's a really, really high level run defender. He's really good. Of course that doesn't really pay money in today's NFL. You got to be able to rush the passer. And for all his freak athleticism and all that, it is scary that in a contract year he only had three sacks and 13 quarterback hurries in 11 starts, right?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes.
TEREZ PAYLOR: In the last four years, he's averaged seven sacks and 18 quarterback hits, which is basically the year Shaq Lawson had for Buffalo this year.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Right.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Lawson just got three years, $23 million with $16.9 guaranteed from Miami. Granted, he is not nearly as good a run defender as Clowney. But Clowney is asking for reportedly $20 million per year, and he reportedly just turned down $17 million from Miami. Reportedly.
You're looking at a player now who's only played a full 16 games once in his career. He's kind of in limbo right now. I think it's a fascinating situation. What would it take for you, if you were a GM, to take a swing on JD Clowney?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Let's break it down here. Let me tell you. I'll dial you in on exactly what's going on here with Clowney.
Absolutely, yes, his number was $20 million. He told his agent, Bus Cook, I'm not signing anywhere for less than $20 million. Early in free agency, a few teams, including the Miami Dolphins, the Seahawks, there were a handful of teams that checked in, and you know what they heard? He wants 20.
So if your deal is not 20, it's not gonna get done. The kid wants $20 million, that's how it is. So what happened? Teams go, nope, not doing 20. Sorry, bud.
The defensive end tag right now is in the 17 range. You want us, given what your production has been-- as you said, he has not been a 15, 16, 17-sack guy. Has not been a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Has not lived up to his lofty potential.
Teams are not just gonna write a $20 million check to that guy. And just because he wants to be in the DeMarcus Lawrence class does not mean he is in DeMarcus Lawrence class right now. That's part of this problem.
TEREZ PAYLOR: One thing I think is interesting though. You did an AMA recently, and you were asked to spill some rumors that haven't been made public. And you said a mystery team is in on Clowney.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Don't give too much away because you obviously can't.
CHARLES ROBINSON: No, I can't.
TEREZ PAYLOR: But share whatever else-- share more if you can. Whatever you can.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, OK. So he goes around, he wants the $20 million. It's not happening, OK? And I heard out of the gate Seattle's first offer to him. Now I don't know how much this changed, but I heard that Seattle's first offer to him was in the $13 to $14 million range.
I heard that offer was not completely insulting when you went around the entirety of the league. Because it looked like his market on the low end was 13 to 14. And his market on the high end, if you factor in Miami and a few of these other teams, was not going to breach beyond 17, OK?
That's not close to 20 for anybody. So that's the problem. And again, I'm not gonna say the mystery team that is interested. But I will give you a factor that plays into this. When Jadeveon Clowney was at his best, he was with a healthy JJ Watt and a healthy Whitney Mercilus, right?
TEREZ PAYLOR: Yep.
CHARLES ROBINSON: He had two other force multipliers on the defensive front with him. He was singled up. He could wreak havoc. He was not finishing as many sacks as you'd like. But he was a hell of a run defender, he was creating a lot of pressure, and he was a lot to deal with.
TEREZ PAYLOR: He is a good player.
CHARLES ROBINSON: He is a good player, right. So I think what you got to do is sit there and go, OK, what teams out there could use an edge rusher? And then you sit there and go, what force multipliers do they have? Because the teams that are now sitting there and considering Jadeveon Clowney are sitting there going, now if we're gonna get all the juice for the squeeze, maybe we got a couple of guys who can help us get all the juice for the squeeze.
