Peter King expects the Texans to franchise OLB Jadeveon Clowney in the coming weeks, as other reports have said. However, King is skeptical about the Texans signing Clowney to a long-term extension because “he’s not the worker bee some others on that defense are.”
King admits that things could change and Clowney is a very productive player. Should he play out the year under the franchise tag and put together another impressive season, King says it’s possible Houston could change their tune.
It’s clear for several months now that Clowney was likely to play out the season under the franchise tag, given a long-term extension would likely run them around $100 million.
Clowney has also dealt with injuries and has had multiple knee surgeries. Although, he’s proven to be an impact play for the Texans’ defense and would garner a lot of interest on the open market if available.
The franchise tag for Clowney should end up being between $15.591M – $17.291M once the has finalized the 2019 salary cap.
Clowney, 25, is a former No. 1 overall pick of the Texans back in 2014. He was in the final year of his four-year, $22.272 million contract when the Texans picked up his fifth-year option last year.
Clowney was classified as an outside linebacker, which drops his fifth-year option figure from $13.846 million down to $12.306 million for the 2018 season and comes out to a savings of $1.54 million.
Clowney will be an unrestricted free agent in 2019.
In 2018, Clowney appeared in 15 games for the Texans and recorded 47 tackles, 9 sacks, a forced fumble, three fumble recoveries, one defensive touchdown and a pass defense. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 9 overall edge defender out of 103 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.
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