Jadeveon Clowney was one of the more talented players available when free agency market opened across the NFL back in March. Fast forward to now, in the later part of August, and the ex-Houston Texan has yet to sign a new contract, putting his 2020 playing status into question.
While it’s unlikely that Clowney will sit out the 2020 season, it’s crazy to think one of the more disruptive players across the NFL, when healthy, has seemingly found himself without a team to call home this late in the free agency process.
Either way, the lack of movement in Clowney’s free agency hasn’t stopped teams from throwing him offers, that includes Jon Robinson and his Tennessee Titans
I mean why would Robinson essentially wave the white flag in the Jadeveon Clowney race?
We’ve discussed it time and time again, the Titans’s pass rush group still lacks a proven commodity off the edge. That could spell trouble for a team, that’s coming into this season with a new load of expectations, expectations that won’t be able to be met if the pass rush lacks any sort recognizable threat that can cause some havoc.
The obvious conclusion of this would be to sign Clowney and end this tiring facade right?
If you want to think logically, yes. There’s no harm in signing Clowney in all honesty, especially for the contractual demands Clowney has put on the table.
Numerous monetary amounts have been thrown out there, each changing from the previous reported monetary amounts that have reportedly come from Clowney’s camp, which aren’t all that expensive.
So what’s the hold up?
Are some teams having some sort of conflict regarding Clowney’s injury history? Is it really just about the money that hasn’t enticed Clowney? Or are we all just wasting our time discussing the Clowney situation as each day slowly passes?
Who knows.
But what I do know, is that the Jadeveon Clowney situation might be headed towards its conclusion soon.
“Keep an eye on the Clowney and Ngakoue situations, those should be resolved in the next couple of days…Clowney is trying to get something done to where he can get out there and get ready and get going.”
via the DraftInsiders podcast
What I also know, is that it would be a complete failure on Jon Robinson’s part if he fails to bring Clowney to Tennessee.
Why? I mentioned it earlier, this Titans EDGE group still needs a playmaker, a disruptive force that can add another level to an already respected defense.
The Vic Beasley experience hasn’t started out well, and odds are it won’t end all that well for the Titans. Beasley already missed crucial periods of COVID-19 testing, in which he was fined a staggering total of $500K for missing said rounds of testing. Not only that, the ex-Atlanta Falcon failed his physical recently, and was placed on the NFI(Non Football Injury) list, and has remained there ever since.
Plus, you could make an argument that Beasley is a walking example of inconsistency, you can’t rely on that if you want to win a Super Bowl.
Not only does the method of relying on inconsistent players at positions of importance fail more than half the damn time, it’s extremely foolish to go through with such a risky plan in the first place.
To top that all off, there shouldn’t really any sort of hesitation from Robinson when it comes to this sort of situation. Just last off-season, Robinson handed out $10M in guaranteed money to Cameron Wake, an aging 37 year old pass rusher that was cut loose this off-season after playing only one season in Tennessee.
Now Wake wasn’t your prototypical 37 year old pass rusher that was standing on his last legs at the time, but throwing that type of money around to a pass rusher fighting a big battle with father time, didn’t seem to make too much sense anyways.
If Robinson can dish out $10M to a 37 year old pass rusher, then what’s the problem with handing out $7M, maybe even $10M more to a younger edge rusher that can take over a game with his athleticism alone?
You might point out the salary cap for next season, and how the losses in ticket revenue could lower the projected total salary cap for teams around the league. To that, I’d say the whole 9 digit salary cap number shouldn’t mean all that much to you.
Simply look at the Kansas City Chiefs, and their ability to sign three of their core players to massive extensions, all while maneuvering with a smidgen of available cap room.
To simply put it, there’s just no excuse to for Jon Robinson to let Clowney waltz his way over to another team. This team still absolutely needs another proven EDGE rusher on the outside, why sit on your hands and potentially lose out on acquiring Clowney’s services?
If it came to pass, and Robinson fails to get Clowney in Nashville, then it’d truly be a massive disappointment. Not only would Robinson lose the chance to add a dynamic talent to his football team, but he’d be rolling the dice on a roster that still isn’t ready to compete with the big boys of the AFC for the right to play in Super Bowls.
The ball is in Jon Robinson’s court, we’ll see how how handles it all.