Texans May Fail To Resign Jadeveon Clowney, Opening His Options For The Future

With the deadline to sign a new deal being July 15, it’s unlikely that the general manager-less Houston Texans will reach a deal with Jadeveon Clowney. He has been in the Pro Bowl for three years running, and the Texans put a franchise tag on him back in March. The Texans value the edge rusher to a degree, but with the lack of a general manager and his injury history, they may let go of the All-Pro come the end of next season.

The Texans fired their GM Brian Gaine back in June, and placed head coach Bill B’Brien in charge of the GM duties and football operations. Lacking a general manager in this time of Clowney wanting a long-term contract could prove fatal for the Texans organization if they fail to reach a deal with the edge rusher.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Clowney has finished his four-year rookie deal and both parties have used his fifth-year option. This will be placing Clowney around the $15.96 million range this year, and if the Texans fail to reach a long-term deal with him and decide to tag him again, he would have a 20 percent increase to his annual salary at $19.2 million. According to Over the Cap, Clowney would be placed as the 12th most expensive edge rusher in the upcoming season.

Clowney has reoccurring knee injuries. He had a micro-fracture surgery on his right knee when was a rookie and had a procedure done on his left knee at the end of the 2018 season. He hasn’t missed an immense amount of games from these injuries, just three in the past three seasons. But his production levels seem to be the concern for the Texans as they don’t want to give him the money he seems to be asking for, for such a high-risk player who has already had two knee surgeries in four years. He’s also never reached in the double digits in terms of sacks in one season.

At the same time however, Clowney could have an important year ahead of him to display that he deserves the money he is asking for. If then the Texans are still holding out on him, he will more than likely attract other franchises to his name and his contract wants. He is just 26-years-old, and plays one of the toughest and most important positions in the NFL. Either way, this upcoming season could prove vital ahead of his long-term contract wants.

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