Seattle Seahawks: Jadeveon Clowney trade steadies pass rush
By Samuel Teets
The Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans have agreed to a trade for star pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney, bolstering their pass rush entering 2019.
After a tumultuous offseason for the defensive line, the Seattle Seahawks have agreed to a deal with the Houston Texans for Pro Bowl pass rusher, Jadeveon Clowney. Jay Glazer of FOX Sports was the first to report that the deal was in the works.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport went further, reporting that the Seahawks are sending a third-round pick, Jacob Martin and Barkevious Mingo to Houston in exchange for Clowney. Clowney will sign his franchise tender so the trade can occur.
The Seahawks have dealt with a lot of ups and downs along their defensive line this offseason. The unit seemed set at the end of last season, with Frank Clark and Jarran Reed coming off of career years. Clark was franchise tagged by the team and the two sides were supposedly working towards a long-term deal. Reed is on a bargain contract for one more year.
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Things fell apart, though, and Seattle ended up trading Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs. The team went about replacing their leading pass rusher in several ways. The Seahawks signed former Pro Bowl defensive end Ezekiel Ansah in free agency. They also brought back Cassius Marsh, who is coming off of a career year.
Ansah has continuously been rehabbing from an injury he sustained last season but will be ready to play in Week 1. Ansah has had a very up and down career though and he doesn’t offer any guarantees in terms of production. With the addition of Clowney, Marsh might be pushed off of the roster entirely.
Considering Ansah’s deal was for one year, the Seahawks used their first-round pick in the draft on TCU’s L.J. Collier. Collier was projected as a late first-round to mid-second round pick in a stacked pass rushing class.
However, the Seahawks can’t rely solely on the rookie to hold down a starting job. Just look at what happened with Rashaad Penny last season.
Things got worse for the Seahawks when Reed was suspended for the first six games of the season. Reed, who broke out with 10.5 sacks last season, was set to be the team’s top pass rusher.
The team doesn’t have an interior player who can match Reed’s sack production, and all of their edge rushers have question marks. With Ansah and Collier posing more questions than answers, adding Clowney would provide some much-needed stability.
Clowney has made the last three Pro Bowls and has 24.5 sacks during that time. He’s got a rare combination of speed and versatility for a player of his size and that can be great for putting him in mismatches. Clowney is among rare company too.
According to the NFL Research account on Twitter, he’s one of just four players with 20 or more sacks and 50 or more tackles for loss since 2016. The others are Aaron Donald, Chandler Jones, and Cameron Jordan.
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With Clowney officially on board, the Seahawks have solved many of their immediate issues with the pass rush. However, this is a one-year rental. When he becomes a free agent next season, Clowney will command a ridiculous price tag that the Seahawks won’t be able to afford if they want to retain Reed and other young players.