Cleveland Browns not one of Jadeveon Clowney’s preferred spots

The Cleveland Browns may not have a shot at Jadeveon Clowney after all.

The Cleveland Browns have been chasing after Jadeveon Clowney like a prom date all offseason long. Yet, a new report from Tony Pauline has thrown a lot of doubt on the Cloweny-to-Cleveland campfire. According to Pauline, the only two teams he’s seriously wanting to go to are the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints. The only problem; neither team can afford him.

The Saints have already released Larry Warford, their three-time Pro Bowl guard, and arguably their best offensive linemen. Now that he’s not on the team, the squad still has serious salary cap issues to work with.

According to Over the Cap, the Saints only have around $8 million in cap space, while the Cowboys have $11 million. Since Clowney is looking for anywhere from $15-$18 million, neither team would be able to sign him at that price. Not for what he’s asking, and they’d probably want him for more than one year. Essentially meaning that Clowney would be locked into a “bad” (in his eyes) deal just to go play for either team.

Maybe for Clowney, the location matters more than the pay. That’s entirely possible.

Complicating matters even further, while the Cowboys have room in their lineup for Clowney, the Saints do not.

Cameron Jordan has been one of the best defensive ends of his generation, even though many overlook him. The future Hall of Famer is only 30 years old and is extremely more productive than Clowney is. Their second end, Marcus Davenport is a nice compliment even if he is a bit injury prone.

The Cowboys are in desperate need of pash rush help, however. Demarcus Lawerence had a down year, going from 14.5 sacks in 2017, to 10.5 in 2018, to just five sacks last year. Randy Gregory and Tyrone Crawford can’t stay on the field; and then there’s Aldon Smith. Smith missed four years due to his personal issues. The Cowboys are beyond desperate.

So while it seems unlikely that Clowney would want to sign with the Browns, he doesn’t have many options. The Browns, however, have a few. First on the list being Everson Griffen. If the Browns decide they finally want to pursue a talent who’s not going to over-value himself, and that Kevin Stefanski knows, the first call should be to Griffen.