The Green Bay Packers remain woefully short on proven pass-rushers with training camp now in full swing, and one player to whom multiple analysts have connected the franchise is perilously close to signing elsewhere.
To be clear, at no point has Green Bay indicated that it intends to sign Jadeveon Clowney. However, multiple prominent media members have suggested him as a strong option for the team, which will be absent Micah Parsons for at least a month and probably six games, if not more.
However, on Wednesday, July 29, Clowney took a meeting with the Cleveland Browns. It is the first such meeting anyone has reported involving the three-time Pro Bowl edge-rusher to this point in the summer.
“Myles Garrett was the catalyst for Jadeveon Clowney’s messy divorce from the Browns in 2023, and Garrett’s departure last month opened the door for Clowney’s possible return,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com wrote. “The Browns on Wednesday hosted Clowney on the first day of training camp, and will re-sign him if the two sides reach an agreement.”
Jadeveon Clowney Likely to Land With Highest Bidder Given NFL History
GettyFree agent edge-rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
The former No. 1 overall pick of the Houston Texans has bounced around the NFL following a five-year stint with the team that drafted him, playing briefly for six organizations across seven years.
Cleveland is the only team for which Clowney played more than a single season in that span, sticking with the Browns between 2021-22.
While that history suggests a reunion in Northeast Ohio is as, or perhaps more, likely than any other outcome for Clowney — particularly given this week’s meeting — it is also safe to say he is not overly sentimental about which uniform he wears or in which city he plays.
Bill Huber of ON SI wrote in early July that Clowney makes sense for a Packers defense that will, absent the addition of a veteran presence off the edge, rely on Lukas Van Ness and his 8.5 sacks over the last three years (his first three in the league) to lead the unit until Parsons returns.
“Clowney is a mercenary at this point in his career. He’ll be playing for his fifth team in as many years,” Huber wrote. “All he does is produce, though, with 8.5 sacks last season for Dallas. He finished 13th in pass-rush win rate and third in pass-rushing productivity.”
Pass-Rush Options for Packers Growing Thinner as Summer Wears On
GettyFree agent edge-rusher Joey Bosa.
The options for the Packers are running thin if the team hopes to add to the position before the start of the regular season in mid-September.
Assuming Clowney lands in Cleveland, the other best option is Joey Bosa. And while Bosa might be an even more natural fit in the Packers’ 3-4 base defensive scheme, he is seriously contemplating retirement, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
And if Bosa doesn’t hang up his cleats, the San Francisco 49ers might be the favorites to land him considering his brother, Nick Bosa, will continue an already successful career in the Bay Area in 2026.
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