Seahawks are (surprisingly) better off without Jadeveon Clowney
The Seahawks weren’t able to re-sign their biggest offseason target. Surprisingly, the loss of Jadeveon Clowney has worked out pretty well.
Let me stop you right there, 12s. I know the Seahawks don’t exactly have the league’s best defense. In fact, they’re dead last in yards allowed. In large part that’s the result of a weak pass rush. And when you can’t re-sign your best defensive lineman, the pass rush is going to suffer. But I’m here to tell you, the Hawks are actually better off without Jadeveon Clowney.
This isn’t sour grapes. I was very hopeful that the Seahawks would be able to keep Clowney in Seattle. I’d be happy if they could somehow work a bizarre trade to get him back, too – but with the Titans cruising at 4-0, that isn’t going to happen. For that matter, the Hawks have just $5 million in cap space, so it wouldn’t be too likely anyway. So just to be clear, I like Clowney, even if I was wrong about the Titans (so far).
How is Jadeveon Clowney playing?
So how is Jadeveon playing in Tennessee? At first glance, you might think he was having a terrible year. The guy has zero sacks! He has a lousy eight tackles! Wow, did we ever dodge a bullet, right? Not so fast. He only had three sacks in all of 2019, and he was still an absolute terror for the opposition. He’s on pace to have more tackles, more tackles for a loss, and more QB hits than he had last season. He’s already broken up three passes, the same number he did in all of 2019. Pro Football Focus ranked him 19th among edge defenders for 2019; he’s currently ranked 13th.
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Yes, he’s playing well. Tennessee is giving up 60 fewer yards and 4.5 fewer points per game than Seattle. I’m not as concerned about the yards as I am the points. Go ahead, roll up 522 yards as the Cowboys did. As long as you’ve got one less point than the Seahawks when the clock runs out, I’ll be happy. Once I get my heart rate back under 150, that is. The point is, the Titans defense is playing well, and Clowney is a big part of it.
But if the Seahawks had been able to re-sign him, who would the team have lost? Or to be more accurate, who would they have never been able to get, either? One prime candidate is starting strong safety, Jamal Adams. He’s missed the last two games and is still tied for the team lead in sacks with two. Not a knock, but that is two more than Clowney has. Adams is pretty good, and he’s only going to get better when the Hawks starting secondary actually manage to all get on the field at the same time.
The cap hit for Adams this year is a “whopping” $3.6 million. That will jump to $9.9 next year, but that might as well be a thousand years from now in NFL financial terms. Linebacker Bruce Irvin is still Seattle’s top-ranked edge rusher according to Pro Football Focus, despite playing just two games. He had three QB hits and one tackle for a loss which compares very favorably to Clowney. His cap hit is $5.9 million. Now throw in defensive end Benson Mayowa, who just happens to be tied with Adams for the team lead with two sacks. Mayowa’s cap hit for 2020 is $3.0 million.
Next. Hawks D: better than it looks. dark
The cap hit for Jadeveon Clowney? I thought you’d never ask, 12s! It just happens to be $12.7 million. That number is $200,000 more than what Seattle is paying all three players mentioned above. Clowney is a fine player – but better than Adams, Irvin (when healthy), and Mayowa combined? I’m going to go with the guys we have now, thanks.