Texans Open To Trading OLB Jadeveon Clowney?

ESPNโ€™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 โ€œnot going anywhereโ€ and the Texans want to sign him to an extension or play under the franchise tag if the canโ€™t get a deal done. 

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

โ€œYes,โ€ Gaine said when asked if the Texans still want to sign Clowney to a new deal, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. โ€œThatโ€™s the spirit of the franchise tag. Thatโ€™s a negotiation, a process. Thatโ€™s still the plan.โ€

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. 

Itโ€™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 heโ€™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.

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