Seahawks: Jadeveon Clowney’s most aggressive suitor has bowed out

Seahawks free agent Jadeveon Clowney has had a tough off-season. Now, it appears his most aggressive suitor has bowed out of the race.

The Browns have been adamant that they want Jadeveon Clowney in Cleveland. Reports came out saying that their desire for a new defensive end started and ended with Jadeveon Clowney. They were not even remotely interested in players like Everson Griffen or Clay Matthews.

Now it appears, their quest to convince Clowney to join them has gone down in flames. Today, they resorted to plan B. It was announced the Browns have restructured defensive end Oliver Vernon’s contract.

The restructuring has lessened his cap hit slightly but added a whole lot of guaranteed money ($11 million). Considering Clowney was assumed to be the player the Browns were going to replace Vernon with. It fairly safe to say, the Browns have officially bowed out of the race.

There is good news. As it is currently the race consists of only 3 teams. The Titans have been fairly dormant in their pursuit. The Raiders are new entry to the sweepstakes, but reportedly have a very low offer on the table for him. Finally, the Seahawks.

It is unclear at this time where the Seahawks stand in their pursuit. All I can tell you is in the last press conference both coach and GM said the door is still open for him to return.

Jadeveon Clowney’s first year with the Seahawks

Clowney was very impressive in his first year with the team. This is especially true considering he had zero off-season to prepare for a brand new position, in a new scheme. He ended the season as a top 5 graded defensive end, per PFF. His run defense was elite. His pass-rush win rate was top 5. His quarterback pressure rate was in the top 15. He was tied for the most fumbles forced at 4. He also had a pick-six.

This isn’t even mentioning the fact that once he started to get comfortable in the Seahawks system, he exploded. He completely took over the mid-season San Francisco game. If it weren’t for the core muscle injury, I think his stats would be far more padded than they ended up.

If Seattle has a chance to bring him back one a one year deal below $15 million, they should not hesitate. The salary cap is very flexible. If Seattle wants to make the deal work, they could easily do so.

One less suitor is a good sign for the Seahawks. I can only imagine the level of impact he would have now that he is healthy, has a full understanding of his position, the scheme and the team. Add into the mix the fact he would be playing on a 1-year prove-it deal. His 2020 season could be the breakout year that everyone has been expecting.