For the second time in three years, the Texans are trading one of their best players to the Seattle Seahawks.
Outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney will be joining former left tackle Duane Brown in Seattle after Saturday’s trade for backup outside linebackers Jacob Martin and the well-traveled Barkevious Mingo and a third-round draft choice.
The trade will be finalized when Clowney, Martin and Mingo pass physicals.
Like Brown, Clowney was unable to agree on a long-term contract with the Texans. In 2017 Brown wanted a contract extension with two years remaining on his deal, but former general manager Rick Smith refused and traded him to Seattle for second- and third-round draft choices.
Trading Clowney leaves a hole in the Texans’ defense nine days before they begin the regular season at New Orleans.
The Texans had a deal in the works with Miami for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, but Clowney didn’t want to be traded to the Dolphins and refused to sign his $15.967-million franchise tender until coach Bill O’Brien found another trade partner.
The trade means Clowney can report to Seattle in time to earn a $939,235 paycheck over 17 weeks. He’ll get a chance for revenge in 2021 when the Seahawks play the Texans at NRG Stadium.
Without Clowney, their second-best defensive player behind J.J. Watt, the Texans are going to suffer on that side of the ball, especially against the run. The Texans were third against the run last season, allowing 82.7 yards a game, including a league-best 3.4 per rush.
The Texans didn’t have Clowney during the offseason program, training camp and preseason, but defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel sure could have used him against the Saints. They averaged 31.5 points a game last season, third in the NFL, and compiled a 13-3 record before losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game.
Clowney, the first overall pick in the 2014 draft, is a disruptive, naturally gifted player who’s outstanding against the run and good enough as a pass rusher to have recorded nine sacks last year and 18 ½ over the last two seasons. Only Watt (16) had more sacks than Clowney in 2018 when the Texans finished 11-5 and won the AFC South before losing to Indianapolis in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Brennan Scarlett has replaced Clowney in the starting lineup. Last week, Scarlett signed a one-year contract extension through 2020.
Scarlett (6-4, 263) is an exceptional special teams players and a capable outside linebacker who also has played inside when injuries have dictated the move. He was signed as an undrafted free agent from Stanford in 2016. So Scarlett is in the lineup opposite Whitney Mercilus, and Clowney is off to new horizons.
Martin and Mingo should provide the depth the Texans need at outside linebacker after switching from defensive end in the Seahawks’ 4-3 system. Mingo, who also played for Cleveland, Indianapolis and New England, started 14 games last season for Seattle. Martin had three sacks off the bench as a rookie last year.
O’Brien’s attempt to trade Clowney was one of the worst-kept secrets in the league. After this season, Clowney will have another chance to get the kind of contract he wants from the Seahawks. The Texans refused to pay him like an elite pass rusher. Perhaps Seattle will.
When the Texans were unable to sign Clowney to an extension before the 2018 season, he played for his $13.3 million base salary. They also were unable to sign him after last season and before the July 15 deadline for franchise players to sign new contracts.
O’Brien put the controversy in perspective on Friday when he was asked if he wanted Clowney on the team.
“It’s not a matter of want,” he said. “It’s a matter of a difference of opinion in value relative to the contract. It has nothing to do with want.”
Clowney knew for weeks O’Brien wanted to trade him to Miami, where he was training when he wasn’t working out in Houston. O’Brien was willing to sweeten the pot with a first-round pick to get Tunsil, but it was a moot point because Clowney wouldn’t sign his franchise tender. Unsigned players can’t be traded.
Now Clowney is headed to Seattle, and the Texans still have a problem at left tackle unless O’Brien is able to make a trade to try to solve that need.