The Houston Texans have a tough and important decision to make when it comes to pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
Are the Houston Texans going to trade pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney, or will they keep him as he continues to hold out thus far in the preseason? Will Clowney ever wear the uniform of the Texans ever again?
In this current game of who will hold out the longest, the Texans might just have played the wrong hand this time in the Clowney contract negotiations. NFL.com Insider Ian Rapoport is reporting that Clowney almost returned to the Texans, and then he didn’t because the franchise — who currently doesn’t have a sole general manager — wants (or wanted) to trade him this offseason because of his holdout situation.
The Texans have placed the franchise tag on Clowney, but he’s yet to agree and sign to it, plus this is the final year of his contract with the Texans. This whole situation has been a bit of a mess from the start, especially since the Texans fired Brian Gaine this offseason and were unable to hire the general manager they wanted, at least for this year.
As for the report by Rapoport, here is what he said, word for word, about Clowney and the Texans in a video he posted to his official Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1166531838720053248?s=20
From the looks of things now, it seems that this could be the wrong move made by the Texans as it is known they want to trade him now, especially if they can gain a strong left tackle or a first- tosecond-round draft pick if possible. The Texans should have made this decision quite a while ago, but not now. With less than two weeks away from the start of the regular season, they will be without one of their better pass rushers.
Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports wrote this on the Clowney situation with the Texans:
"“Maybe Clowney signs his franchise tag and plays with the Texans, maybe he’s playing somewhere else by Week 1. But a situation that was already frosty has gotten a lot more complicated.”"
If it were my guess — which this time it is — my prediction for Clowney and the Texans is he’s going to be traded at some point this season, and the relationship between him and the Houston franchise won’t be close to what it was.
Clowney was a No. 1 overall pick five years ago, but that excitement and title has worn off, and from how things have gone this offseason — and with Clowney not around for the preseason — I think the next time No. 90 is on the field for the Texans, it won’t have “Clowney” on the back of the jersey.