Jadeveon Clowney has signed one-year contracts with the Browns in each of the past two offseasons, waiting weeks into free agency to do so on each occasion. While a recent report indicated another such scenario should not be ruled out, events of the past two days certainly point Clowney out of town.
The former No. 1 overall pick told cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot there is roughly a 5% chance he returns to the Browns in 2023. These comments do not look to have gone over well with Browns brass. The team sent Clowney home Friday, Cabot reports, adding his status for Sunday’s season finale is uncertain.
“Ninety-five percent sure I won’t be back,” Clowney said, via Cabot. “But there’s still that 5%. You never know what can happen. I just feel like I need to be around somebody that believes in me and my ability. [It can’t] just be me believing in myself. I believe in myself more than anybody.”
Clowney, 29, played well opposite Myles Garrett in 2021, staying mostly healthy and registering nine sacks. This season, Clowney has been less productive. He has posted just two sacks in 12 games, totaling just four QB hits — his lowest total since a rookie season that ended after four games. While a 13-game season would represent a fairly decent participation rate for the injury-prone talent, he is displeased with how the Browns have used him. During the 12 games in which he has suited up, Clowney has played 63% of the team’s defensive snaps.
The three-time Pro Bowler said he believes the Browns, at certain points, have opted to showcase Garrett by aligning him opposite beatable tackles. Garrett, the team’s top player who is pushing for another All-Pro nod, has 15 sacks this season and is continuing on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Garrett’s 15 sacks lead the team by a staggering margin; no other Browns performer enters Week 18 with more than three.
“You’re all trying to get somebody into the Hall of Fame when all that matters is winning,” Clowney said. “Everybody got here for a reason, and we can all make plays. I know I am. I don’t even think [Garrett] notices [the position switches]. I ain’t trying to say it’s him. I try to get along with everybody I play with. Me and him don’t have a problem. It ain’t his fault, and it’s B.S., and I don’t have time for it.”
Clowney’s status as Garrett’s sidekick has been fairly clear since he signed with Cleveland, but his comments regarding the team prioritizing Garrett stats over wins obviously have not gone over well. Clowney pointed toward DC Joe Woods‘ potential departure as a reason he could be back. Woods is on the hot seat, Cabot adds, and said Thursday he is uncertain on whether he will be asked back for a fourth season. The Browns, who have played better defensively as of late, rank 18th in points allowed and 12th in yards yielded.
The former Texans, Seahawks and Titans pass rusher is finishing out a one-year, $10MM deal; he played for $8.25MM in 2021. Clowney, who played on both the fifth-year option and franchise tag, never secured the long-term deal that once seemed certain. Injuries intervened, and he has not quite lived up to expectations despite displaying versatility during his pro career. Interest will come his way again in 2023, but his comments ahead of the Browns’ season finale could throw a wrench in a third Cleveland campaign.
Jadeveon Clown.
I mean he prob has a point since they took it personally
“The three-time Pro Bowler said he believes the Browns, at certain points, have opted to showcase Garrett by aligning him opposite beatable tackles.”
Wait. You mean to tell me the defensive coordinator put his best pass rusher and one of the top if not the top pass rusher against someone they identified as beatable?
Yeah, real mystery and really hard to figure out why the DC would do something like that.
Next you’ll tell me offensive coordinators design plays to put their TE against the defense’s linebackers who arent good in pass coverage.
He wants to shake and bake like cal naughton jr
I mean some people would line up best vs best so clowney has a chance to win also.
Garret vs worse and clowney vs best means you only get 1 chance for a sack
Clowney vs worse and garrett vs best…garrett can still beat the best and clowney might best the worse and you have two shots at a sack.
Obviously its all situational. But i could see shere clowney is frustrated.
That only works if Clowney or the opposite pass rusher is capable of beating the weaker tackle. Which doesn’t seem to be the case given his production.
In theory it would be a good idea, but Clowney’s production hasn’t seemed to warrant doing that. It seems to warrant putting Garret up against the weaker tackle which would probably draw double teams and open up more 1 on 1 situations for guys on the line.
He’s frustrated because they just “don’t believe in me”. Come on. He’s an I burger with ME sauce and looking for excuses. The fact that he’s not in the same league with Garrett goes up his tail pipe sideways. 5% chance of re-signing sounds high to me.
Nothing he said makes any sense. He was fine with being Watt’s sidekick in Houston, but gets frustrated that he’s playing the same role with the Browns. Garrett and Watt are both elite talents, and he’s never been better than either of them. The point is to maximize your strengths. Mary Kay’s article added that it was his choice to only play third downs in a game, so that also limited his snap count even though it was his own choice.
I’m not gonna criticize him on the way out. When healthy, he’s a solid player and especially good against the run. But it’s just odd for him to come out and say that.
Clowney being a clown. Hey maybe Garrett has those stats because he is better than you? Look in the mirror there is a reason you have played on 4 teams and never got the “ Big Contract” living off one play in college
Git.
“Ninety-five percent sure I won’t be back,” Clowney said
I wonder how he came up with that figure because after some number crunching I put the chances at 93%. But there’s only a 47% chance of that. I majored in in 3rd grade arithmetic, so…
If you can only muster 2 sacks being lined up across Myles then maybe you’re just not that good Clowney. The Browns should be able to find a cheaper option with more upside than 2 sacks. Gotta fire Joe Woods first though.
Why fire Joe Woods if he’s given players like Clooney to work with? The defensive tackles have been unproductive all season long. The defensive backfield, which should have been one of the Browns’ strengths, has also underperformed badly, regularly giving up big plays because they’re leaving receivers wide open. Who besides Myles Garrett has produced a pass rush consistently??? The Browns need to make a lot of changes in personnel on the defense for next year.
They should just offer him a $230 million fully guaranteed contract and he will go from not wanting to play there to wanting to play there.
Has he ever been good? Wasn’t there a time when he was younger before we knew he was a bust that he was showcased? Idiot..
Well, he almost killed a running back while at South Carolina. That hit sure paid off for him
He was the consensus number one pick long before that hit. Clowney’s pass rush disappointment aside, I really wish that this myth would die.
I was being facetious and agree with you 100%
I apologize. I misinterpreted. My mistake.
Come play for the Vikings next year for league minimum.
Clowney will be on the Eagles next year.
The intelligence of Clowney’s comments aside, teams have certainly put up with worse from worse players. Clowney hasn’t really had a history of being difficult off the field-his issues mostly revolve around his availability and his ability to finish his pass rush-so I would suppose that he and the Browns were already on rocky ground to begin with. It’s pretty nonsensical for him, in my opinion, since Garrett obviously loved him as a teammate and the Browns probably would have signed him back. Clowney could use some stability, and he’s not getting any younger.
Even if what he said was true, and he would like some of the same opportunities that he believes that the defensive staff is exclusively giving to Garrett, he still is in a good situation by having Garrett on the other side. Clowney should consider the possibility of playing on another line lacking a quality pass rusher off which to reciprocate. Concerns such as these do no good when aired in public-if he’s told this to the Cleveland staff, so be it, move on and sign elsewhere. If not, it’d be significantly better to do so in private.
I don’t know near enough Cleveland tape this year to say whether they could have used Clowney better. But I do know that he’s been injured so often this year that he can’t have much to complain about. He should take that into consideration before making such comments in public, regardless of their veracity. Also, Garrett has been a very vocal supporter of Clowney’s since he arrived. Even though he tried to couch his statement, I doubt that Garrett appreciates what Clowney said, and Jadeveon can’t afford to burn many bridges before what may be an underwhelming free agency.
I was surprised to see that Clowney is only 29. Seems like he’s been in the NFL forever
He seemed to be a real force in Houston but it would appear that injuries have slowed him down a great deal
Don’t know what happens in Cleveland. Over the last few years, you had the feeling they were turning the corner with the talent they were acquiring
But between injuries and miscalculations about guys like Mayfield and OBJ, I have to think that locker room has a lot of guys sniping at each other as another long off season looms
It’s kind of a shame. I think Stefanski is a good coach but you wonder if he’s going to pay the price for front office mistakes
I largely agree with you, although I think it’s important to acknowledge the possibility that he could’ve been speaking to them privately about this well before going public and gotten nowhere. I’m not saying I think it was the best play, but maybe he felt he needed to air this out to generate interest in himself in FA to avoid the perceived lack of productivity. The downside for him is teams may say he’s not worth the headaches. It just takes one team, though.
I agree with both of you. I also agree that Clowney may have tried to parse this issue with Cleveland’s staff and not gotten the answer that he liked. I may not have said that we’ll enough, but I attempted to acknowledge that possibility. Clowney has always struck as someone who will say what he thinks, but does not seem overly rude or abrasive. Still, it would have been better I think to keep those sentiments out of the public eye.
Looks like we found the guy who is sharing a brain cell with OBJ.
95% sounds like some Steiner Math to me lol