As the NFL world continues to wait for Jadeveon Clowney to make a decision, yet another outlet believes he will ultimately choose the Tennessee Titans as his new home.
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin projected where each of the top remaining free agents will land, and his choice for Clowney was the Titans, who he believes will pay the free-agent pass-rusher $16.5 million on a one-year deal.
“Clowney’s injury history, compounded with the restrictions of this offseason, all but ensure he won’t land top dollar on a long-term deal until 2021, at the earliest. So then it comes down to which one-year offer he prefers: Having reportedly already balked at big money from the Browns and turned down offers to return to the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee just makes the most sense. The Titans could stand to patch over their inexplicable decision to give Vic Beasley $9.5 million, their team is built on boasting a sterling defense, and they’re familiar with Clowney from his AFC South past. Clowney, who has experience in the 3-4, would also be closer to home in South Carolina.”
On a quick side note: Benjamin also projected cornerback Logan Ryan to go to the Minnesota Vikings on a one-year, $10 million deal. That’s a landing spot that hasn’t been talked about much for the veteran.
Back to Clowney: there are a lot of reasons to think the Titans are the favorite to land him at this point.
For starters, there is a lot of familiarity for Clowney in Tennessee. His former teammate and good friend, Johnathan Joseph, recently signed with the team, and his former defensive coordinator, Mike Vrabel, is the head coach.
And, if Clowney wants to sign a one-year “prove-it” deal in order to try and get the payday he’s seeking next year, who better to play for than the guy who coached him to his best single-season sack total in 2017?
Adding to that, the Seattle Seahawks have long been thought to be out of the running for him, and the Cleveland Browns, another team that was thought to be a suitor, reportedly offered Clowney the most money, but he apparently doesn’t want to play there.
As the process continues to drag out, a recent report by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero states that the Titans “continue to monitor” Clowney, but so are some other teams that Pelissero didn’t name.
Everything the Titans have done this offseason seems to point to them being all-in on Clowney (trading Jurrell Casey for cap space, holding on to their cap space, not drafting an EDGE), so anything less than landing the biggest fish left on the free-agent market would be very disappointing.
[lawrence-related id=36665,36651,36424]