It’s July and yet somehow Jadeveon Clowney is still unemployed. The 27-year-old former number one overall pick was expected to be a hot commodity on the free-agent market and yet for whatever reason, he has yet to sign with a team.
Exactly two months ago, it was reported the Raiders were not among the teams potentially interested in Clowney. That news was greeted with a shrug, mainly because most didn’t really expect the Raiders to make a play for Clowney at that point.
This isn’t to say the Raiders are a great pass-rushing team. They should be improved, but just how well they will get after the quarterback this season remains to be seen. Even so, there are a few key factors that would make Clowney a difficult play for them right now.
After the 2018 season, they were by far the worst pass-rushing team in the NFL. Prior to that season, Jon Gruden had traded away All-Pro pass rusher Khalil Mack and the result was a season of 13 combined sacks, just one of which came from an edge rusher that was still on the team at season’s end — Arden Key.
From that, the team made Clelin Ferrell their top pick in the draft at 4 overall. Then they doubled up at the position, grabbing Maxx Crosby in the 4th round.
It was Crosby who shot out the gates for the team, putting up ten sacks as a rookie and proving himself to be an every-down player. Ferrell also rarely came off the field, but he struggled some early on and was often played out of position due to the lack of interior pressure.
This offseason, they set about fixing the interior pressure issue, signing former Cowboys’ defensive tackle Maliek Collins. They also bulked up the outside rush with the addition of Carl Nassib.
What you have now is a favorable situation. They have two starters (Crosby, Ferrell) early in their rookie deals, with a veteran (Nassib) in rotation, and enough inside pass rush (Collins, Maurice Hurst) to keep everyone fresh, keep the offense honest, and play everyone at their ideal position.
Why, then, would they then go spend big money on another edge rusher?
Granted, it’s possible Clowney’s price may have come down some from what he was initially asking. But, make no mistake, the three-time Pro Bowler still won’t be cheap. And currently the Raiders are sitting with the sixth-lowest available cap money ($8.28M) in the league, according to overthecap.com. And that’s without having yet to sign a single rookie.
They’d be spending money they don’t have to sign a player who would be a pure luxury item in rotation that would lower the value of their recent 4th overall pick and one of their top 2020 free-agent additions.
Adding big-name players always sounds great. But it should make sense for the situation. In this case, it would be difficult to see the logic in such a move.
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