The Houston Texans traded edge defender Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks at the end of preseason in 2019. That meant the Texans wouldn’t see Clowney until 2021 when the AFC South played the NFC West.
The former 2014 No. 1 overall pick didn’t re-sign with the Seahawks after his year in the Pacific Northwest, and now he is a free agent who could come back to the AFC South.
According to Titans Radio play-by-play Mike Keith via the Titans Wire, Clowney could sign with the Tennessee Titans, and the Texans would get to see their former first-round pick at least twice in 2020.
“Oh, I think there’s a real chance because the Titans have cap room, they certainly have a connection from Mike Vrabel’s time in Houston,” Keith explained. “They have other connections within the team that are reaching out to him — Johnathan Joseph, former teammate from the same hometown, Taylor Lewan reaching out on social media, other players saying they’d love to have him. If you’re Clowney, the Titans certainly make sense if the dollars make sense… but the Titans have clearly left the door open publicly that they have interest in Clowney. Now, will what they want to pay and what he wants to get paid match up? That I don’t have any idea, but I wouldn’t rule the Titans out in this, no.”
There are copious Texans connections in Tennessee for Clowney, and what makes them more meaningful is they come from a time in his career where he was at his peak. In 2017, when Vrabel was the defensive coordinator, Clowney produced career highs with 9.5 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries, one of which was returned for a 71-yard touchdown. All of this was accomplished in the absence of defensive end J.J. Watt, who played just five games.
At 27 years old, Clowney still has plenty of gas left in the tank, and the Texans would have to account for him if he joined the Titans.