There’s a reunion coming for veteran edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, but it’s not with the Seattle Seahawks.
Clowney, who generated reported interest from the Seahawks earlier this offseason, is set for a return to the Houston Texans, the team that drafted him way No. 1 overall back in 2014. According to Houston Texans reporter and NFL insider Aaron Wilson, Clowney’s deal is one year “with a maximum value of $8 million and a base value of $5.5 million.”
“It’s great,” Clowney said after the signing. “It was
a family decision. It wasn’t about the money. It was about legacy and chasing a Super Bowl. I’ve got a lot of game left and I want to contribute.”
Clowney still lives in the Houston area so he gets to stayhome. He’d visited with the Cleveland Browns, another one of his former teams, before ultimately deciding to sign with the Texans. Clowney was famously traded to the Seahawks before the start of the 2019 regular season, playing out his contract year before joining the Tennessee Titans in 2020. His best statistical year came with Mike Macdonald and the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, which would’ve made a return to Seattle that much more intriguing.
Houston’s defense was right up there with Seattle’s as one of the NFL’s best, and the 33-year-old Clowney will get to play alongside arguably the best edge rushing pair in the league: Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. Houston has a Super Bowl caliber defense, but it needs a lot more from C.J. Stroud and a reworked Texans offense to finally get over the hump and even reach a Conference Championship for the first time.
At $5.5 million, Clowney’s base salary is more than double what the Seahawks gave Dante Fowler Jr to more or less replace Boye Mafe. Not that it’s exorbitant money, but it’s a sign that the Seahawks were probably never really in the mix for Clowney once they landed Fowler.
