Vrabel Says Titans Willing to Wait on Clowney

Head coach adds to the chorus of those willing to discuss the possibility that the defensive end could sign with Tennessee.

No one in the NFL universe seems to know what Jadeveon Clowney is waiting for.

More than three months since the start of a free agency, teams have made their best possible financial offers. Those with serious interest have explained how they envision the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft would fit in with their team. Those that aren’t interest likely won’t change their minds suddenly.

Yet Clowney, a three-time Pro Bowler, remains one of the biggest names still available as the start of the 2020 season approaches.

Whatever it is, the Tennessee Titans are willing to wait.

“[General manager] Jon [Robinson] and I are trying to do everything we can to improve our team and a player of his caliber would certainly – probably – do that,” coach Mike Vrabel said this week on The Helliepod, the podcast host by NFL Network personality Dan Hellie, who is also Tennessee’ play-by-play voice on preseason television broadcasts. “So, we’ll continue to talk. I have a lot of faith in Jon and I appreciate his willingness to allow me to have input into the roster and have some of these discussions with him.”

Vrabel, undoubtedly, has much to say about Clowney – who he often refers to as ‘JD’ – based on their time as coach and player with the Houston Texans. Most notably, Clowney’s best NFL season to date was 2017, the one year Vrabel served as Texans defensive coordinator.

He is not the only one, though. Lately, more and more members of the franchise have spoken up about the prospect of Clowney in Tennessee.

Two weeks ago, Robinson called the 6-foot-5, 255-pound defensive end “a good fit” with the Titans. About the same time left tackle Taylor Lewan openly courted Clowney in a social media post and safety Kevin Byard said he was “all for it” during an appearance on the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.

Whatever it is the has caused Clowney, a 27-year-old whose injury history includes multiple knee surgeries and a sports hernia procedure, to wait, the Titans seem determined to give him something to consider while he does.

“I just think that that’s where they’re at – his agent’s at, JD’s at,” Vrabel said. “You know, when you ask for whatever they’re asking for and you don’t get it, then you’ve got to wait until you get it, or something has to move.

“Not having the ability to bring players in is another, I think, hurdle with some of these guys that may have had offseason surgery or had some procedure done or something that they maybe just weren’t 100 percent and you needed to look at them or you needed to have your doctors look at them. That’s, I think, part of it. That’s part of the holdup.”