Last Sunday, the Titans ended one of the NFL’s most outstretched stories of 2020 when they signed edge-rusher Jadeveon Clowney to a one-year contract with more than $12 million at its base, and around $15 million if incentives are met. Not bad scratch for a guy who had just 4.5 sacks and 58 total pressures, but as the news unravels, it appears that Clowney and his people left a lot of money on the table for various confusing reasons.
During the NFL Network’s “NFL Now” show, host Andrew Siciliano had insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport on, and the details revealed were… well, not great for Mr. Clowney’s side.
Per Pelissero, the Seahawks had made Clowney’s group multiple offers five months ago, topping out at a one-year, $15 million deal that could rise to $16 million with incentives. That offer was made in early April. And per Rapoport, the Browns offered Clowney a three-year, $57 million deal, which would have averaged out at $19 million per year. Under that contract, Clowney would have been the sixth highest-paid edge rusher in terms of average annual money, just behind Myles Garrett, Khalil Mack, Demarcus Lawrence, Frank Clark, and Von Miller. Instead, Clowney could get $15 million in 2020, but he’ll have to hit a bunch of incentives to do so. Seattle’s offer would have had $15 million as its base.
As far as the Browns’ offer, Rapoport said that there were people in Clowney’s camp advising him to take a one-year deal no matter what, so he could cash in in 2021. This is a monumentally flawed gambit for one clear reason: Due to estimated revenue shortfalls in the 2020 season based primarily on a massive decrease in attendance, the NFL has already projected that the 2021 salary cap will probably come in at around $175 million, as opposed to the $198.2 million it is in 2020.
It’s rare that one athlete and his representation misreads a market so catastrophically. We’re not going to say that this is why Clowney recently fired agent Bus Cook — it’s just as likely that Cook was telling Clowney or somebody else around Clowney to shake it out of his head and take the best possible deal. In any event, Clowney cost himself at least $1 million in 2020, and unknown millions in 2021 — unless he wants to take another one-year deal then and punt it to 2022. Which is entirely possible. It should also be noted that Clowney fired Cook last year as well. Woof.
This isn’t quite as weird as the story about the Saints trying to work a league-nixed sign-and-trade deal for Clowney, but it’s pretty out there.