Getty Jadeveon Clowney's future is the biggest topic of the Seahawks' offseason.
The Tennessee Titans are still in the running for Jadeveon Clowney, but it does not sound like the pass rusher is buying a house in Nashville anytime soon. Titans GM Jon Robinson admitted on the team’s official podcast that they had “discussions” with Clowney and would not “close the door” on a potential signing.
“We’ll see,” Robinson noted on the Official Titans Podcast. “Like I said a couple of weeks ago, we’ve had some discussions there and we’ve had some dialogue back and forth. You never close the door on anything.”
Robinson sounds far from optimistic that the Titans will be able to land Clowney. The Titans GM added that nothing is “imminent” with Clowney, but the team plans to continue having conversations about his free agency.
“As I said earlier, I don’t think there’s anything imminent in the works,” Robinson explained. “But we’ll continue to try and work though things and see how they go.”
The Titans Update Could be Good News for the Seahawks
The question many Seahawks fans want to know is if Robinson’s comments can be interpreted as good news for Seattle. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the Titans, as several other teams have suggested, are open to signing Clowney but not at the pass rusher’s price tag. This comes shortly after ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that a deal fell through with the Browns.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo may have described the Seahawks’ chances as “slim to none,” but it is still hard to imagine Clowney landing a lucrative deal with another team. The NFL’s travel restrictions do not appear to be close to being halted, which means that Clowney cannot meet with a team’s medical staff. Aside from Garafolo’s report, the Seahawks still make a lot of sense, even if it is on a one-year deal.
For the Seahawks to replace someone of Clowney’s caliber, it would likely have to be on the trade market. The Seahawks would be forced to give up significant draft capital to acquire a top pass rusher such as the Jaguars’ Yannick Ngakoue. Seattle still has not signed a major pass rusher and could create more cap space with a few moves that would allow them to bring Clowney back to the Pacific Northwest.
Clowney appears poised to wait until training camp for a deal, but it will be worth watching whether the NFL draft could serve as a deadline for some sort of a decision. The longer Clowney’s free agency goes on, it is hard to imagine the pass rusher landing a deal close to the one he continues to seek, even after lowering his asking price.
The Titans Implied the Team Has Concerns About Clowney’s Injury History
This is not the first time Robinson has discussed the Titans’ interest in Clowney. Robinson mentioned Clowney on April 1 noting the team had been in contact with the pass rusher but implied they had concerns about his injury history.
“Just through talking with the agent,” Robinson explained to TennesseeTitans.com. “As far as actually getting a medical report on the player, you’re not going to have a medical report on the player until he sees your team doctors. But I would say there is nothing more important than the health of the players. Their ability to go out and play for 16 games is important, or at least the games they are healthy enough to play in that they are impactful. That is definitely an important part of the decision when you are looking to sign somebody.”
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