After almost all of the top free agents across the NFL agreed to contracts within the first few days of free agency, Jadeveon Clowney remains unsigned, and no one seems to know what his future holds.
Clowney and the Seahawks have expressed some mutual interest in staying together in Seattle, but that mutual interest hasn’t led to a deal, and Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes that some wonder if Clowney could wait until training camp to find his new team.
Clowney waited until even later than training camp last year, when he didn’t sign the franchise tag the Texans put on him and was eventually traded to the Seahawks just before the start of the regular season. Clowney may figure he showed last year that he can miss a full offseason and still get to work when the time comes, and can do it again this year.
Complicating matters for Clowney is that he’s coming off surgery for a core muscle injury, and teams will want a thorough physical before signing him. Those physicals are more difficult to arrange because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It appears that Clowney wants a contract that would pay him like the NFL’s truly elite pass rusher, and that he hasn’t received that kind of offer yet. He seems to be willing to wait for the contract he wants, and that wait could last months.