Jadeveon Clowney’s Position Switch Saved His Career But Could Cost Him $2 Million
Featured2013 Outback Bowl, Michigan versus South Carolina. First and 10, Michigan ball, leading 22-21 with 8:32 left in the fourth quarter. This was the moment when Jadeveon Clowney announced his presence to the football world at large.
The Wolverines snapped the ball and Clowney shot through the line from the right end and met running back, Vincent Smith in the backfield as the ball was handed off. Then Monday Night Football announcing tandem Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden were on the call, Gruden recapped what just happened best, “Clowney says, ‘I’ll take care of business'”.
It would be a full year before Clowney would enter the NFL draft, but that highlight along with his combination of freakish athletic ability, strength, and size would make the defensive end the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
With that smashing hit still fresh on everyone’s minds, Clowney was expected to immediately dominate in the league, especially with a player like J.J. Watt bookending the other side of the Houston Texans defensive front.
However, Clowney dealt with injuries and inconsistent play for the better part of his first three seasons in the NFL. By 2016, the Texans announced that they were going to move Clowney from outside linebacker to defensive end in their 3-4 alignment. After making a name for himself rushing off the edge at South Carolina, Houston was opting to kick him inside and use him more as a run defender and edge setter.
Yet, halfway through that season, a confluence of injuries along the Texans front seven resulted in Clowney moving back to outside linebacker and getting to try his hands again at being a pass-rushing presence off the edge. He registered three sacks through the first 12 weeks but he recorded a sack in each of the games from Week 14 through Week 16.
In their Wild Card win over the Oakland Raiders Clowney had an interception multiple quarterback pressures, and two deflected passes helping the underdog Texans hold their opponents to just 14 points.
Clowney would be named to the Pro Bowl that same year.
Since then, he’s been operating at outside linebacker, or “JACK” as it is listed on the Texans official website. His presence has been very important and entering this offseason the Texans opted to place the franchise tag on him to ensure that they would keep him with the team for at least one more season.
Yet, that tag is the reason for some recent controversy between Houston and Clowney. When a player is tagged by a team, they receive a one-year salary that is the average of the five-highest contracts for players at their position. The problem, what position is Clowney?
He wants to be tagged as a defensive end, where Houston wanted him to play in 2016. That would make his salary $17.13 million for the 2019-20 NFL season. The Texans want to tag him as an outside linebacker, where he’s been playing on and off for the team since being drafted in 2014. His salary would drop to $15.44 million for the upcoming year.
Clowney is at his best when he can attack off the edge, in 3-4 defenses those players are usually listed as outside linebackers but in 4-3 defenses, those players are usually listed as defensive ends. This confusion has led to draft prospects similar to Clowney to be billed as “EDGE” defenders rather than a defensive end or an outside linebacker.
The NFLPA is expected to file a grievance for Clowney in an attempt to secure him a higher salary.
Labeled as a DE/OLB on the Texans roster this issue isn’t as simple as it might seem. For instance, Aaron Reiss of The Athletic tweeted that mostly lined up at defensive end last year.
With Houston electing to bypass having a true general manager it isn’t a surprise that the two sides couldn’t come to a long-term agreement but a dispute over $2 million dollars could create some bad blood and tension between the team and player when it comes time to negotiate a new deal next offseason–unless they choose to tag Clowney again.
Clowney isn’t the first player to face this problem and likely won’t be the last. With CBA talks intensifying as a lockout looms on the horizon, it’ll be interesting to see if the NFL adopts “EDGE” as a position like draftniks has recently.
