Report: Texans, Jadeveon Clowney won't do long-term deal before deadline
Of the six players who were designated as franchise players earlier this year, three have had their contract issues resolved: the Seattle Seahawks traded Frank Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chiefs traded Dee Ford to the San Francisco 49ers, and the Dallas Cowboys and Demarcus Lawrence agreed to a five-year extension.
But one of the three who hasn’t yet seen his situation resolved likely won’t see that change anytime soon.
Report: Status quo
On Tuesday, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweeted the following about pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney and the Houston Texans:
“Status quo for Texans and unsigned franchise player Jadeveon Clowney, per sources. No deal happening prior to July 15 deadline, will play this season under $15.9 million franchise tender. Not expected to miss any games, but likely to miss at least a major portion of camp.”
Under league rules, teams and franchised players have until July 15 to agree to a long-term contract; if that doesn’t happen, the player can play all, some or none (as was the case with Le’Veon Bell last year) of the season under the tag.
The tender is fully guaranteed, so players can play as few as six games in order to accrue a season and still get all of the money.
GM situation complicating matters?
The Texans surprisingly fired general manager Brian Gaine a month ago, and vice president of football administration and salary cap expert Chris Olsen is serving as interim GM.
Could that situation be complicating matters?
Houston has reportedly interviewed San Francisco 49ers VP of player personnel Martin Mayhew and former Cleveland Browns GM Ray Farmer for the job, but those happened weeks ago; initially, it looked like the team wanted New England Patriots de facto GM Nick Caserio for the job, but they backed off after the Patriots filed tampering charges.
The No. 1 pick in 2014, Clowney has made the Pro Bowl each of the last three years, when he’s totaled 24.5 sacks and 59 quarterback hits and 158 total tackles.
Via the NFL Players Association, the Texans currently have $40.27 million in salary cap space.
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