The New Orleans Saints tried every trick in the book to land Jadeveon Clowney, who eventually ended up signing with the Tennessee Titans.
The Saints, who along with the Titans were making a strong push for Clowney in the last few days before he signed, were strapped for cash and reportedly got creative in their attempt to get Clowney to New Orleans.
According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, the Saints tried to pull off a sign-and-trade with an unnamed team in order to get around the salary cap and acquire Clowney after realizing they couldn’t match what the Titans were offering.
The sides discussed parameters of a deal in which Team X would’ve signed Clowney to a one-year, $15 million contract and paid him a $5 million signing bonus. Then, Team X would’ve immediately traded Clowney to the Saints, who would’ve sent Team X a second-round draft pick, as well as a player to take additional salary off New Orleans’ books. The Saints would’ve paid Clowney’s remaining $10 million salary.
Just one problem: The teams got word late Saturday the NFL was unlikely to approve such a deal.
We certainly can’t say the Saints didn’t try. On top of that, head coach Sean Payton and two other New Orleans coaches went to Texas to have dinner with Clowney on Friday night as part of their attempt.
Thankfully for the Titans, the Saints were unsuccessful in their bid to land the former No. 1 overall pick and he’ll be playing football in Nashville in 2020.
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