Jadeveon Clowney a Match for Eagles?

The defensive end who knocked QB Carson Wentz out of last year's playoff game is still a free agent and plays a position that is a perceived need for Philly, but his fit is questionable

Jadeveon Clowney is still a free agent.

The Eagles are $23.5 million under the salary cap, per www.overthecap.com, and have a mostly unknown cast at the defensive end position after Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and, to a lesser extent, Josh Sweat.

Could this be a match made in heaven?

Not likely.

A Houston-based television reporter, Mark Berman, tweeted early Wednesday morning that Clowney is working out in the Houston area.

Clowney has acknowledged that he would like to return to the Seattle Seahawks, a team he played with last year as any Eagles fan remembers. It was Clowney who delivered the concussion to quarterback Carson Wentz early in the first quarter of their wild-card playoff game and knocked Wentz from the game, dearly costing the Eagles a chance to win.

Berman reported that sources have told him the Eagles, Browns, Titans, and Ravens are checking in on Clowney.

Free agent DE Jadeveon Clowney (@clownejd)works at @PlexAthlete in Houston with Plex director @itsdannyarnold. Clowney acknowledges @Seahawks remain on his radar,loved playing there. Other teams expressing interest according to NFL sources incl @Browns, @Ravens, @Titans & @Eagles pic.twitter.com/104lG2XS4b

— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) May 6, 2020

Acquiring Clowney would only cost the Eagles money, not the kind of draft or player capital it would take to pry away Yannick Ngakoue from Jacksonville. It doesn’t appear the Jaguars will be dealing their star pass rusher anyway and will hope he has a change of heart and signs his franchise tag.

Here's more on the Ngakoue situation from SI.com Jaguars reporter John Shipley:

/nfl/jaguars/news/dave-caldwell-on-yannick-ngakoue-situation-i-think-his-options-are-very-limited

While $23.5M may look like a lot to spend, the Eagles will still need about $8M to sign their 10-member rookie class.

The Eagles need to be fiscally responsible for two reasons.

First, they are expected to be well above the cap in 2021. They could carry that money into next season.

Second, there is no telling what the salary cap will look like in a year. After years of rising, the cap could decrease because the viability of having a 2020 season, one that could begin without revenue-generating fans in the stands, is still not clear due to the COVID-1 pandemic.

Clowney would likely require a $15M investment and it would have to be a one-year contract. The defensive end began the offseason looking for a multi-year deal with a starting point from $18M to $20M per year.

He has likely decreased those demands since the marketplace never really heated up for him. Just how much he is willing to come down is unclear, but it would have to be a substantial amount for the Eagles to be involved.

There isn’t any rush on Clowney’s part, though.

The only thing happening these days around the NFL are virtual workouts. The uncertainty as to when training camps will open is still immense.

Clowney is just 27, but he has played all 16 games once in his six years in the league. When he does play, he is capable of wrecking an opponent’s game plan, but not always at a consistent level, and he is still looking for his first double-digit sack season, though he came close in 2017 and 2018 when he had 9.5 and 9, respectively.

This just doesn’t feel like a heavenly-made match.

As for the report the Eagles have talked to Clowney’s agent, well, that sounds more like a team that is doing what it always does – its due diligence by checking in on anybody and everybody.