Texans trade Jadeveon Clowney to Seattle

The heist is official.

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/09/02/n...-tunsil-bill-obrien-seahawks-jadeveon-clowney

Sure, Seahawks GM John Schneider might’ve liked to celebrate landing Clowney. But by the time he and O’Brien got off the phone late on Friday night with an agreement in principle, just in time to get the 26-year-old on an early Saturday flight to Seattle, there was way too much going on for that, with the cutdown deadline just hours away.

Thirty-six hours later, he’d had more time to take it in. And he could best explain the move by describing what he felt like the Seahawks were getting in Clowney.

“He can do whatever he wants to do when he wants to do it,” Schneider says. “That’s what sticks out—he can do whatever he wants to do whenever he wants to do it. He’s a freak athletically.”

Given Seattle’s attrition up front over the last few years (Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, etc.), plus the six-game suspension Jarran Reed is about to serve, finding pressure players up front was an obvious need for the Seahawks. But they weren’t going to panic to fill it, which made getting to the finish line on Clowney a process.

The Texans and Seahawks first discussed a trade before the draft, but Schneider says the team was jammed up logistically at that point doing massive extensions for Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner, and the price tag to trade for Clowney was a little higher than they’d have liked. So they let the draft pass—and in the meantime, they did their homework on Clowney. Because he was such a high pick in a year Seattle had the last pick in each round, the team hadn’t done much of that ahead of this spring—“Probably like everybody else, I knew he was supposed to be a freak, and he had the huge hit against Michigan [in the 2013 Outback Bowl],” Schneider says.

The staff called around 20 former teammates and coaches of his. But the most powerful testimonial came from right down the hall—Brown had been a teammate of Clowney’s for more than three years in Houston.

“He couldn’t have spoken about him more highly than he did,” Schneider says. “He loved the guy.”

What moved the GM to get more aggressive was seeing on the internet that Clowney was resisting the idea of a trade to Miami. Schneider thought all along that the Seahawks’ culture would be a fit for Clowney, and that Carroll would get the most out of him (“Pete loves working with guys like this.”) That belief also helped ease the issue of, by rule, not being able to extend Clowney, with the hope he’d want to stay once he got there.

So Schenider moved on him and, ultimately, what’s going back to Houston isn’t anywhere close to crazy. The Seahawks sent a third-rounder there, which they’ll likely get back in a comp pick if they lose Clowney in 2020, plus role players Barkevious Mingo (who Clowney replaces) and Jacob Martin (who impressive rookie Cody Barton will replace).

If Carroll can get the most out of this prodigious talent, who has been through microfracture surgery as a pro, the move will fit in with the Seahawks have built their best teams over the course of this decade—focusing on getting to the quarterback.

“You never feel like you have enough pass rushers,” Schneider says. “And that’s not necessarily a reflection of the people you have here. It’s just, we’re constantly looking at all positions, but especially how you improve your pass rush, for sure.”

And to be able to pull that off on the doorstep of September? Schneider can celebrate that, because it’s not easy to do.

 

Bill O'Brien on Jadeveon Clowney: 'There were contract proposals between player and us we couldn't come to an agreement on. We had several discussions with many teams over many months.'

Asked about return value for Clowney, O'Brien said Texans believe they made best decision for team.

On whether the #Texans received value for Jadeveon Clowney in the Seattle trade: "We do."

O'Brien did not answer the question as to whether Clowney should've been traded before the draft.

O'Brien: I understand everyone is going to dissect what we did and what we gave up to Seattle. In the end, we did what we thought was best for our team.

Bill O'Brien: 'We can't control what the outside world thinks. It's probably taken me a while to figure that out.'

“The best thing for us to do is go out work hard, practice hard and win.” - Bill O’Brien

Bill O'Brien on Jadeveon Clowney, said team discussed having him play this season under tag and also with JD and Bus Cook. "We think very highly of Jadeveon Clowney. He had a lot of good Sundays for us.'

O'Brien declines to answer whether he anticipated Clowney sitting out the season if he wasn't traded #Texans

O'Brien said Texans had discussions within organization and with Clowney, agent about Clowney playing with Texans this year. Said they were unable to come to a resolution. Eventual decision made was best for Texans and Clowney.

Bill O'Brien on Jadeveon Clowney and if team could have repaired things: 'We're moving forward.' Said you always look back and reflect on what happens, but you can't dwell

Bill O'Brien on JD Clowney: 'He had a unique skill set. We anticipated there was a possibility he would not be here.'

Bill O'Brien on Jadeveon Clowney on what divided team and Texans: 'We could not come to agreement on a long-term deal.'

"Do you think your defense is improved after the moves you made this weekend?" O'Brien: "I think we have a good defense."

 

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Pete Carroll:

-Rare football player
-Special skills
-He's pretty much got what you're looking for
-No question he's in good shape, we'll see how he responds
-(Having Duane here) We communicate with these guys & no doubt he helped through the process
-(Work ethic?) I watched him come out of college. That's just a young player to me. We'll see what happens. He's in our program now. I don't care what happened before.
-(Duane) He's a great worker, extraordinary habits, good communicator, he's a special guy delivering the message about what we may be getting.
-(Rental?) I don't know. Just trying to get to Wednesday. We'll see what happens. His excitement coming here, ready to take advantage of this opportunity, he won't let this go by. We'll see what happens in the long haul.
-Everything we talked about was forward thinking & being on a team he was excited about. He received a lot of information from Duane that this would be a fun place. Excited & positive about it. What more can I ask for?
-(Agree not to franchise him?) Yeah, part of the negotiation.



Clowney says he started having conversations with Duane Brown a month ago about coming to Seattle.

Clowney said he’s been talking to Duane Brown for a while and said he first asked him about Seattle about a month ago. Duane said “you need to come play with us. You’ll love it here.” Clowney then said he’d try to look into it and see if he could find a way up here.

Jadeveon Clowney said former Texans teammate Duane Brown played a big role in him seeking a trade to the #Seahawks.

Clowney on Seattle: “You have great weather and fan support. It’s not hot like Houston”

Jadeveon Clowney on what he remembers most about playing in Seattle: "This fanbase - this fanbase is probably the craziest I've ever played in front of. Now I'm glad I get to be on the opposite side...I'm looking forward to being a part of that."

Clowney says looking forward to playing in a 4-3 defense and just going forward. Says had to drop in coverage a lot in Houston.

Jadeveon Clowney is excited to be back as a 4-3 DE and get after the quarterback. He plans on spending much less time in coverage with the #Seahawks

“In a 4, you are going forward. When you are going forward, you aren’t thinking” you just go."

Jadevon Clowney on Seattle's system:

"I can get back to going vertical, not dropping. Just really putting my head down and grinding. When you're going forward you don't think about a lot. So that's the best thing about this defense."