Texans Open To Trading OLB Jadeveon Clowney?

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (via Pro Football Talk) reported Thursday that the Texans are open to trading franchise OLB Jadeveon Clowney.

However, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that Clowney is “not going anywhere” and the Texans want to sign him to an extension or play under the franchise tag if the can’t get a deal done. 

Last week, Texans GM Brain Gaine said that they still plan to sign Clowney to a long-term extension. 

“Yes,” Gaine said when asked if the Texans still want to sign Clowney to a new deal, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “That’s the spirit of the franchise tag. That’s a negotiation, a process. That’s still the plan.”

Prior reports have questioned whether the Texans are serious about signing Clowney long-term or just allowing him to play out the year under the franchise tag. 

It’s also worth mentioning that Clowney has come up as a player teams have shown interest in trading for this offseason. 

The Texans and Clowney parties have until July to negotiate a long-term extension. 

The franchise tag for Clowney will be between $15,443,000 and $17,128,000, depending on whether he’s considered an outside linebacker or a defensive end.

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 was in line to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

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.