The Seattle Seahawks have, as expected, lost some talent in free agency. Still, the team needs to find players to replace the outgoing ones, and former Mike Macdonald player Jadeveon Clowney makes sense.
Clowney played for Macdonald when the latter was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. The veteran edge rusher, who, of course, also spent a season with the Seahawks in 2019, had one of his better seasons with Macdonald and was a brilliant fit in the coach's system.
Seattle was unlikely to be able to keep all of the talent whose contracts ended in 2025 because players such as Kenneth Walker and Boye Mafe deserved to get paid. So far, the Seahawks have not acquired any high-dollar free agents from other teams, leaving the team with $38,173,694 in cap space currently, according to Spotrac.
Seattle Seahawks should kick the tires on bringing back edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney
Also, according to Spotrac, Clowney's market value in 2026 is only $5.7 million. Seattle can easily afford that, of course, and take a chance on the 33-year-old edge rusher. It would be the second offseason in a row that the team would have made the same kind of move, and it paid off this past season.
Seattle signed former Dallas Cowboys edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence, who was turning 33 before the 2025 season, and Lawrence had six sacks, 20 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss, and made the Pro Bowl while helping the team win the Super Bowl.
While Jadeveon Clowney has bounced around the NFL (seemingly intentionally) for quite some time, he has remained productive. He also would transition from the Cowboys, for whom he played a single season last year, where he had 8.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
To make matters even easier for the Seahawks and the player, Clowney's knowledge of what Mike Macdonald likes to do with his scheme should help Clowney be immediately impactful while replacing Boye Mafe. This would mean Seattle's edge rush rotation stays at a high quality with Clowney, Lawrence, Derrick Hall, and Uchenna Nwosu.
To be sure, Clowney would not be a long-term investment. The Seattle Seahawks likely need to take an edge rusher relatively high in the draft, too. But adding a veteran would allow the rookie more time to acclimate to the NFL while also providing quality depth.
Seattle lost three key pieces of its defense in free agency. Mafe, cornerback Riq Woolen, and safety Coby Bryant, and the team hasn't added any pieces to replace them, relying on 2025 backups to replace their productivity. Clowney, at least, could help offset the loss of Mafe and wouldn't cost much to sign.