Last year, the Browns spent months attempting to bring Jadeveon Clowney to Cleveland. They ended up doing so, on a visit at least. Clowney arranged a meeting with the Browns, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The parties are met Wednesday, with Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal tweeting the summit has concluded.
The veteran defensive end is coming off an unremarkable season with the Titans, with injuries limiting him yet again. Despite his seven years of NFL experience, however, Clowney is just 28. And he is one of the top free agents still available. No deal is imminent, according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. With Clowney not yet 100% after a 2020 knee injury, teams’ caution makes sense.
This comes at an interesting time for the Browns. They chased J.J. Watt in free agency and have been rumored to be prepared to devote notable resources to adding a bookend pass rusher opposite Myles Garrett. Olivier Vernon played that role for two seasons, but the Browns attempted to sign Clowney to replace him last year. Vernon is now a free agent and coming off an Achilles tear. And the Browns, despite being linked to several veteran sack artists, remain understaffed at the D-end spot opposite Garrett.
The Browns did add Takkarist McKinley, but they will certainly add more pieces to help on their defensive front. They agreed to terms with Malik Jackson last week as well, and although Jackson has experience playing end in a 4-3 scheme, he has mostly served as an inside rusher in his nine-year career. Clowney has experience inside as well, but he would qualify as a starter-caliber player opposite Garrett on the edge.
Clowney was not high on Cleveland last year, but his value took a hit last season. Although Clowney is not known for his sack prowess, he recorded zero in eight Titans games. Since his 2018 Pro Bowl season with the Texans — the most recent of his three Pro Bowl slates — Clowney has just three sacks. The Seahawks opted to let Clowney walk after the 2019 season, and he spent months in free agency before joining the Titans on a one-year, $13MM deal. His next team will be able to land him at a cheaper rate.
One of the league’s top run-defending edge players, Clowney has battled injuries for most of his career. The former No. 1 overall pick suffered a torn meniscus last year, and although he is expected to be ready for football work by April, he has a history of knee issues. A groin injury hampered him in Seattle.
Get it AB!!!
he’s been horribly underwhelming the last few years. not sure if i’d wanna waste $$ on him
“Low risk high reward”
High Risk with the money that he wants and Low Reward with the value received on the field.
This is his history since he basically sat his senior year as a Gamecock.
Yep yep. High risk low reward. Dude is the most overrated player in the league and pretty much has been since draft day.
Dude loves the paycheck but not the game
They should just trade for Khalil Mack, him and Garrett with Jackson in the middle would be horrifying to other squads
Yeah that should be an easy trade to pull off. They should trade for Aaron Donald too
He’s just not a top tier talent. There’s a reason he’s looking for his 4th team and still 27-28 years old.
this!!!
28 years of age with seven years experience on the d-line is about 45 normal human years old…
Ryan Kerrigan is looking for a starting role. I’d rather see him stay in DC as a rotational DE but RK could certainly solve Cleveland’s issue looking for a bookend for Myles Garett for a couple of years.
If Cleveland does sign him it’ll be in the 1yr 5-8mil range
Cleveland would make sense for him. They will go to the playoffs, he playing upfront with Garrett and Jackson so he should get a lot of pressures and sacks just as being sort of that unit.
However I think another good landing spot would be the Ravens. Yes they have little to no cap space but just in terms of him being a fit. Help replace Ngakore and Judon and play up front with Calais Campbell. That locker room looks more exciting and Clowney could suit that team
Has there ever been a more overhyped player…. he’s living off his name not what he’s done on the field.
As a non QB — The more over hyped player then Jadeveon Clowney challenge…
5 shots off the cuff —–
1) Albert Haynesworth — Clowney before Clowney
2) William “Refrigerator” Perry — I am still upset about the SB TD
3) Lawrence Phillips — have to be honest, was going with Darren McFadden
4) Maurice Clarett — Made Phillips look like a steal
5) Tony Mandarich — Because Todd Marinovich is a QB
Not a bad list, but none of them was the #1 overall pick or basically sat out their senior season of college to protect themselves. I think that takes the Clown to the top of the list. Still cannot believe the Packers drafted Tony Mandarich instead of Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Derrick Thomas, etc!