Seahawks GM John Schneider crushed the Clowney financials, too
The Seahawks pulled off the deal of the offseason with their trade for Jadeveon Clowney. Turns out GM John Schneider crushed it even more than we thought.
The Seahawks lit it up with their bombshell trade for edge player Jadeveon Clowney on Saturday. One day later, we discover that the deal was far better than we knew at the time. If you somehow missed his Draft Day wizardry, John Schneider just proved he’s the best general manager in the NFL by miles.
This deal was already one of the best in Hawks history. To recap, Seattle gave up Barkevious Mingo, Jacob Martin, and a third-round pick for Clowney. Mingo and Martin both played the same position as Clowney. Mingo was likely going to be cut due to his salary. Martin showed a lot of promise, but promise isn’t production. If the Seahawks don’t keep Clowney beyond 2019, they’ll almost certainly get a third-round pick as compensation.
So Schneider got a three-time Pro Bowler for a player he was going to cut (Mingo), and a guy who only got more than 20 snaps on defense twice (Martin). Again, Mingo was good, just not as good as his contract demanded. Martin was very good in limited use, and will do even more in Houston. But Jadeveon Clowney has proven he’s got the goods. Getting him for extras is genius. As it turns out, Schneider pulled off an even better deal than we knew at the time.
Seahawks John Schneider stole the Texans money, too
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It’s being reported by multiple sources, including Pro Football Talk, that even the financials of the deal heavily favored the Seahawks. Clowney did not sign his tendered offer sheet. Instead – pay attention now – instead, the Texans paid Clowney a $7 million signing bonus, and the Hawks will pay his base $8 million salary. No kidding, folks. The Texans gave Clowney to the Hawks and paid nearly half the money he wanted. The excellent site for all financial sports data spotrac.com reflects the same info. We’ll rate this as true.
So let’s recap. The Seahawks will pay Jadeveon Clowney, a player who was unhappy with his old team and their $15 million dollar deal, just $8 million this season. They would have paid Martin and Mingo over $4 million. Bear in mind that Clowney actively campaigned to be traded to either the Hawks or the Eagles. Seattle now has a three-time Pro Bowl player who wants to be here at a position of dire need. And they only have to pay him a little over half of his contract.
Next. Seahawks 53 man roster. dark
John Schneider deserves a new title, preferably above the General Manager monicker. What could it be? Super Genius? Nah…too many sad Wile E Coyote connotations. In this case, Bill O’Brien was the coyote, and Schneider was the roadrunner. That’s Schneider staring down from the top of the cliff, watching O’Brien hit the bottom with a tiny puff of smoke. Whatever title you want to give him, Genius Manager John Schneider is the best in the business.