Jadeveon Clowney and the Texans did not come to terms on a long-term pact prior to yesterday’s deadline, which means that Clowney will need to sign his franchise tender at some point and wait until next year to try to get his mega-deal. And according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (video link), Clowney is, as expected, shooting for a contract in line with those that other top pass rushers have signed this year, if not higher.

In other words, he is eyeing Frank Clark‘s five-year, $104.8MM deal with the Chiefs and Demarcus Lawrence‘s five-year, $105MM deal with the Cowboys as a baseline, but Schefter says that Houston has thus far been unwilling to match those contracts, let alone exceed them. It’s unclear just how far apart the two sides were when the deadline passed, but Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com suggests that the Texans are equally unlikely to pay market value for Clowney next year, even if he continues performing at a Pro Bowl level.

In Barshop’s estimation, that is a mistake. The advanced metrics loved Clowney in 2018, and although he has not yet tallied a double-digit sack campaign, he is a fearsome pass rusher and often absorbs double-teams as a result. He and J.J. Watt complement each other quite well in that regard, and Clowney is a talented run stopper as well. He has every reason to ask for a contract paying him at least $20MM per year, but if he gets it, it apparently won’t be from Houston.

We heard a few months ago that Clowney could be a trade candidate, but Schefter says there has been little interest around the league in trading for the former No. 1 overall pick. Interestingly, Schefter says the Texans would like to keep Clowney long-term, which doesn’t necessarily jibe with recent reports indicating that head coach and de facto GM Bill O’Brien is perfectly content going year-to-year with one of his biggest stars.

Barshop says the fact that Watt is making “only” $16.7MM per season could complicate matters, because if Clowney lands a $20MM+/year deal, Watt may want to revisit his own contract. The team will also need to pay Deshaun Watson big money soon, though Bashop notes that the Texans have enough cap space to keep everyone content. They just seem to have reservations about making a lengthy commitment to Clowney.

As members of the 2016 draft begin to sign extensions, 2014’s No. 1 overall pick is set to play yet another season without a long-term deal. And there will now be drama over Jadeveon Clowney‘s 2019 salary.

The NFLPA is expected to file a grievance against the Texans regarding Clowney’s franchise tag figure, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Texans tagged Clowney as a linebacker, and that price comes in at $15.967MM — $1.698MM less than Clowney would have received on the defensive end tag.

The Texans paid Clowney just more than $1MM this year to resolve a dispute about his position as it related to his 2018 fifth-year option salary. Houston uses a 3-4 defense and deploys Clowney as a stand-up linebacker in base sets, but the college defensive lineman spends more time in three-point stances in sub-packages as a pro. The defensive line-linebacker split was roughly 60-40 in favor of a D-line role, Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson tweets.

This has turned into quite the year for the Texans, who also fired their GM — one who was on board with a Clowney extension — and will not replace him until 2020. Clowney has hovered in extension limbo with the Texans for well over a year. Now, more back-and-forth will likely commence between he and the team that took him first overall five years ago.

The 3pm CT deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extension came and went without a Jadeveon Clowney deal. He will play this season for $15.967MM.

While no agreement was expected, Clowney is now in a strange spot. The former No. 1 overall pick has been extension-eligible since January 2017 yet will play a sixth season without a long-term extension in place. As a result, the Texans should not expect to see him for a while.

Clowney is unlikely to show for “a good portion” of training camp, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeting the Pro Bowl edge defender may not resurface in Texans gear until September. But he is expected to report before the Texans’ Sept. 9 opener against the Saints, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports.

As was the case with Le’Veon Bell last year, Clowney is going into his sixth season and has already accrued enough service time to be an unrestricted free agent. So, the August 6 reporting date will not affect the 26-year-old’s potential UFA path.

A reported disagreement between Bill O’Brien and since-fired GM Brian Gaine on Clowney’s value existed, with O’Brien being against a long-term deal for the former South Carolina prodigy. The Texans are going without a GM this season, but their reshuffled front office will have to deal with a disgruntled standout — one the team shopped in trades this offseason.

We heard earlier today that the Texans won’t be extending Jadeveon Clowney. The two sides aren’t going to reach a deal before the July 15th deadline, and Clowney will play the 2019 season under the franchise tag. 

After firing Brian Gaine and failing in their attempt to hire Nick Caserio away from the Patriots, the Texans were left without a general manager. It’s been unclear who is running things in the front office, although now we have a little more clarity that it’s head coach Bill O’Brien. Gaine and O’Brien “disagreed on whether to make a long-term commitment to” Clowney, a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.

There was a report right after Gaine was fired that his handling of the Clowney situation was partially responsible for his termination, but that suggested that Gaine was fired for not making progress on an extension. Now it seems like the opposite is true, and that it was Gaine who wanted to extend him all along.

Word leaking out that a head coach opposes a contract extension for a current player is sure to make things awkward in the locker room, and makes it more likely that this is Clowney’s last season with the team. The Texans are widely expected to make another run at Caserio once his contract expires following the 2020 draft, but they’ll need to make a decision on Clowney before then when free agency opens in March. O’Brien is likely to still be running the show then, and he clearly is hesitant to commit to Clowney for the future.

The first overall pick back in 2014, Clowney has blossomed into a great player, but the Texans don’t want to break the bank for him. A Pro Bowler each of the last three seasons, Clowney is likely looking to reset the market for pass-rushers yet again, and he’s been staying away from the team’s offseason activities while he held out for a new deal. The report from earlier today indicated he might miss a solid chunk of training camp, but that he’s expected to show up in time for the regular season.

Jadeveon Clowney won’t be getting an extension from the Texans. The two sides aren’t going to get a deal done before the July 15th deadline, sources told Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

That means that Clowney, the first overall pick back in 2014, will play the 2019 season under the franchise tag. The deadline for franchised players to get a new deal is in less than a week, and we hadn’t heard of much progress between the two sides, so this isn’t too shocking. While pushing for a new deal Clowney has been staying away from the team, and he didn’t attend the team’s mandatory minicamp last month.

Wilson reports that Clowney is “not expected to miss any games, but likely to miss at least a major portion of camp.” Clowney clearly isn’t too happy to be playing under the tag, and it sounds like he won’t be showing up until the last minute. After the Texans fired GM Brian Gaine, there were reports that his handling of the Clowney situation contributed to his firing.

The Texans are now in the unique situation of operating without a general manager. After they fired Gaine, they failed in their attempt to lure away Nick Caserio from the Patriots after New England filed tampering charges. Caserio’s contract is up after the 2020 draft, and the Texans are widely expected to make another run at him then. It’s possible that a new front office could be able to soothe things over with Clowney, but free agency will have come and gone by the time Caserio is out of his Patriots contract.

As of right now, it seems highly possible that this will be Clowney’s last season in a Texans uniform. Clowney has played very well, making the Pro Bowl each of the last three seasons, but Houston seems reluctant to reset the market and break the bank for him. In 15 games last year, Clowney had nine sacks, 16 tackles for loss, and three fumble recoveries.

No surprises here, but Texans edge defender Jadeveon Clowney is not expected to attend the team’s mandatory minicamp, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Minicamp opens tomorrow.

Houston has put the franchise tag, valued at $17.1MM, on Clowney, but Clowney has yet to sign the franchise tender as he continues to push for a multiyear pact. The deadline for the two sides to come to terms on such a deal is July 15.

If and when Clowney gets his contract, it will be a doozy. Given the premium that teams are now paying for edge rushing talent, and given that Clowney is also a force to be reckoned with in the run game, he may well end up making over $22MM per season with $50MM or more guaranteed at signing,

It’s unclear whether the Texans are still actively shopping Clowney, but the fact that the team is currently without a GM is doubtlessly delaying a resolution. But it sounds as though former GM Brian Gaine wasn’t exactly making much progress on a new deal for Clowney, which may have been a contributing factor in Gaine’s ouster.

The Texans have targeted Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio to replace Caserio, but regardless of whom they hire, the first order of business for the new top exec will be addressing the Clowney situation.

It appears the Texans would not only be open to trading Jadeveon Clowney, they might be the ones making the calls.

In what would be the third tag-and-trade scenario involving an edge defender this offseason, the Texans have contacted teams about Clowney, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com reports (on Twitter).

The Texans made calls about possible Clowney trades just as the news broke of the Seahawks’ talks about dealing Frank Clark. Robinson categorizes the Texans’ situation with Clowney as similar to where the Seahawks stood with Clark. This is interesting, considering Houston does not have a quarterback contract like Russell Wilson‘s on its payroll and enters the first round of the draft with more than $41MM in cap space — second-most in the league.

Last week, Texans GM Brian Gaine expressed optimism about reaching an accord, though we haven’t heard positive news on that front. Clowney has been extension-eligible for two years now, and the sides have not been particularly close to a deal. They did not get close last year, when Clowney was tethered to a fifth-year option, and may not be near an agreement — hence the trade chatter — now that the outside linebacker is attached to a $17.1MM franchise tag.

With Clark and Lawrence now receiving $21MM-plus-AAV deals, Clowney likely is setting his bar higher. The 2014 No. 1 overall pick has battled injuries at multiple points in his career, including last offseason, but also made three straight Pro Bowls before turning 26. This will be an interesting situation to monitor.