Russell Wilson joins Seahawks push to re-sign Jadeveon Clowney: ‘I need you, homie.’
Russell Wilson and now the Cleveland Browns have joined the Jadeveon Clowney Watch.
Wilson was on Instagram this weekend soliciting questions from Seahawks fans. When one asked if he would “talk some sense” into Clowney to re-sign with the Seahawks, Wilson obliged.
“I need you, homie,” Wilson said on his video feed.
“Clowney come back. Don’t leave me. Don’t...Clowney, don’t leave us. We need you bro.
“Anyways, Clowney, I love playing with you bro. Hopefully we get to do it some more. That’s what the fans want.”
Wilson posting on social media past midnight immediately made one wonder if the quarterback was about to give another “Hey, Seattle, we got a deal,” this time for a teammate.
But...no. Wilson didn’t have his wife next to him. Nor was he wearing as much jewelry as he was last spring while announcing his record new $140 million contract with the Seahawks.
Wilson’s message to the three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher is far from an ultimatum, nor is it likely to sway Clowney much from taking the best deal he can get—especially after waiting this long to get it.
But for a team, and its fans, locked down in the coronavirus pandemic in need of a breakthrough with Clowney to aid the most problematic part of the Seahawks, Wilson’s words count for something.
How much? That may depend on a fourth team that has entering the bidding for the top free agent left on the NFL market.
The Browns have “shown interest” in Clowney, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Saturday.
“Some people around league believe Cleveland got closer with Clowney than other suitors, though nothing ultimately happened from recent talks,” Fowler wrote.
Obviously nothing happened. Nothing has with Clowney for almost a full month now.
Cleveland (which has the most available salary-cap space in the league at $43 million), Tennessee and the New York Jets have talked to Clowney’s representatives beyond Seattle. The fact he hasn’t signed with any of them shows he still isn’t getting the money he wants.
The Seahawks have offered him a multi-year contract believed to be worth $18.5 million per year. Clowney, 27 and in his first go at free agency, was seeking $20 million or more per season. Other teams are scared off by his injury history; he’s played just one full 16-game regular season among his six years in the league. He’s had a microfracture knee surgery and, in January, surgery to repair a sports hernia that limited him at the end of last season for Seattle.
Other teams want their doctors to examine Clowney before committing anywhere near the money he is seeking. But the COVID-19 outbreak has shut down team facilities and all travel for free agents. He can’t get a physical with an NFL team doctor.
The Seahawks know his injury history and especially his recovery from the sports-hernia surgery three months ago better than anyone. That is in Seattle’s favor to re-sign him. So is familiarity.
Last week, Clowney’s camp leaked to ESPN’s Dianna Russini the edge rusher “moved off that $20mil+ number and it’s closer to $17-18mil” as an adjusted asking price.
In other words, down to where Seattle started.
That leak was an obvious attempt to get more offers beyond the Seahawks’ proposal.
Short of a mammoth offer falling out of the sky that he’s trying to entice, Clowney is still waiting to decide between: 1.) staying in Seattle on a multiyear deal that may be the best one he gets; 2.) leaving for a one-year deal from another team to try free agency again next year when presumably he won’t be coming off a surgery and there won’t be a pandemic restricting him and teams, or 3.) re-signing with the Seahawks for one year to make that second run at free-agent riches from the team he’s most comfortable with and has said he wants to be with—money permitting, of course.
Any one-year deal is going to be less than the $18.5 million the Seahawks initially offered him. Teams offering a single season would not be able to spread guarantees and bonus money across multiple years to make Clowney’s salary-cap charges more feasible. There’s more money in multiple years not just in salary but also bonuses, because multiyear deals give teams more financial flexibility.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks have signed Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa to one-year deals in free agency. They had 15 1/2 sacks combined last season for Carolina and Oakland, respectively. Seattle is also weighing options with free agent pass rusher Everson Griffen. He appears to be waiting to see what money Clowney may end up signing for, to see what the edge-rusher market may be for him this late in free agency.
Thing is, the pandemic seems to be leaving Clowney is no particular hurry to sign with anyone while the money is not exactly what he wants. At this point he could wait until the league’s travel restrictions end so he can take physicals with other teams to prove medically he’s worth the added cost. He could wait into May and June, because he’s not going to be missing minicamps and organized team activities with the Seahawks or a new team that might sign him. There’s almost assuredly won’t be minicamps and OTAs this NFL offseason.
With the coronavirus ravaging much of the country, shutting it down, and still not at its peak according to medical experts, NFL training camps and even the 2020 season are no sure things this summer and fall.
President Donald Trump held a conference call this past weekend with the NFL’s Roger Goodell and fellow commissioners from other major sports leagues. Trump stated he wants arenas and stadiums to re-open across the country by August.
The NFL season begins in early September.
In California, hard hit by the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom disagreed with Trump.
“I don’t anticipate that happening in this state,” Newsom said.
California is home to the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 7:00 AM.