The Cleveland Browns have struggled in recent years but it hasn’t been for a lack of spending money. The team’s five-year, $230 million contract with Deshaun Watson turned out to be a massive bust and the team has been doing financial gymnastics to deal with the salary cap ramifications of a lemon at quarterback.
While Watson is out of sight and out of mind as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon, he isn’t the only tale of buyer beware. A former member of the Browns who flamed out in Cleveland is back on the free agent market again, and he seems to have a delusional mindset as he looks for a new team ahead of the 2025 season.
Former Browns DE Jadeveon Clowney Believes He Played Well Before Panthers Released Him
Jadeveon Clowney hit the free agent market again after he was released by the Carolina Panthers earlier this month. The South Carolina native's homecoming lasted just one season with the Panthers as he recorded 5.5 sacks in the first year of a two-year, $20 million deal, but the 32-year-old believes he wasn’t the problem as he looks for his sixth team over the past seven seasons.
“I think I played well for Carolina [last] year, considering the circumstances that was unfolded for me,” Clowney said via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “I played with a bunch of guys that was hurt this past year. And I ended up playing extremely well for them. So it is what it is. I can play the game. I can play football. There are 31 other teams. I just hope another team gives me that opportunity so I can prove myself again. I feel like I can do that.”
Clowney is selling himself to another team as he hits free agency, so his comments aren’t surprising. But they’re also the latest evidence towards delusion that has existed since he was selected by the Houston Texans with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft.
With nearly a year’s worth of hype before he hit the NFL, Clowney made 29 sacks and three Pro Bowls during his five seasons in Houston before signing with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. His stint in Seattle only lasted one season, however, followed by a disastrous stint with the Tennessee Titans, featuring no sacks in eight games during the 2020 season.
The Browns took a buy-low opportunity on Clowney ahead of the 2021 season, and it paid off with a nine-sack campaign. Unfortunately, he was limited to only 12 games and two sacks the following year before spending the past two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and Carolina Panthers, respectively.
The stint in Carolina is the most puzzling. While Clowney put up solid sack numbers and a strong 12.7% pressure rate, he also played on a defense that surrendered the most points in NFL history. While a season-ending injury to Derrick Brown also weakened the front, Clowney had his own injury issues, missing a pair of games with a shoulder injury early in the year, as well as the Dec. 8 game against the Eagles due to rest.
Clowney can still be an effective player in the league, but he’s burned so many bridges at this point, it’s hard to wonder which team would take on the risk. If he gets honest about his play, he may have a chance, but his latest comments make it seem like that will never happen.