Seahawks free agency: Jadeveon Clowney versus Clay Matthews
By Geoff Shull
Jadeveon Clowney – DE
The Seahawks seemingly held out hope all offseason that Jadeveon Clowney would end up signing back with the team. Unfortunately for both player and team, he is still unsigned today. Clowney has yet to receive an offer he deemed worthwhile.
The Seahawks missed out on many players while waiting for Clowney. It has been a lose, lose situation. It is time for both to remedy this and give it a go for another year.
Regardless of what has been, Jadeveon Clowney would add another much-needed Superstar to the defensive side of the ball. Many fans have been stuck on the fact that Clowney only had 3 sacks last year. I am not going to spend time defending this, as I have many times before.
Instead, I will focus on why that was an outlier and Clowney would blow it up this year. Last season Clowney was dominant in pass rush win rate. He was also top 15 in pressure rate. He simply did a phenomenal job blowing up the QB pocket.
The problem was the Seahawks defense did not have enough speed to capitalize on his disruptive tendencies. When he blew up the pocket the QB was forced outside where the speed rusher should be waiting. The Seahawks pass rush had zero effective speed rushers. This should have been a feasting zone.
The Seahawks have remedied this. They added speedy defensive ends in Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin. They traded for Quinton Dunbar and Jamal Adams. They drafted Darrell Taylor and Jordyn Brooks. The team has more than enough speed to wreak havoc.
It’s a completely different roster than last year. If the QB breaks outside one of the speed rushers will be coming, if the QB takes his chances inside, Clowney will be ready to feast. Either Clowney will have 10+ sacks, or he will show he is the main reason someone else accomplished this feat. Either way, he wins.
The Seahawks need to hope that Clowney has realized this. He is looking to cash in. The Seahawks are looking for a Super Bowl. The Seahawks roster is built in a way that Clowney could shine like no other. If he comes back, he could end up cashing in like many expected next off-season.
He would fill in as the 5-tech. This would slide Rasheem Green to the first defensive lineman off the bench. I could see LJ Collier playing predominately as a 3-tech (DT). The Seahawks want to get him playing time and the DT spot is thin, would be a perfect lineup.
Clowney has no reason to sign a multiyear contract at this point. With the defensive end market getting reset via Joey Bosa ($27 million AV) and Myles Garrett ($25 million AV), patience and strategy is the way to go. If Clowney plays well, he knows he would get that $20+ million per year deal contract he was seeking.
What contract terms would likely look like: 1 year, $10 million. Fully guaranteed.