Jadeveon Clowney is the biggest loser of NFL free agency

Jadeveon Clowney is proving to be his own worst enemy on the open market.

The title of ‘best available free agent’ tends to be a baton that gets passed every few days over the early portion of the NFL‘s annual offseason period. Slam dunk talents suddenly unattached to a team are no small wonder, especially if you’re a would-be contender itching to get over the hump.

That’s why it’s a teeth-gnashing perplexity that Pro Bowl pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney is still unsigned almost three months into the 2020 league year. And given everything we know about the kind of money his suitors have put on the table, it’s clear that he’s become his own worst enemy.

Jadeveon Clowney’s refusal of Browns and Seahawks offers makes no sense

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes that the Seahawks, who employed Clowney in 2019 and saw him make $15 million, have put a one-year deal on the table worth approximately the same value. Given that the man’s price only keeps dropping the longer he remains unsigned, there’s really no explanation for his refusal to re-up with Pete Carroll and Co., a legitimate NFC contender.

The biggest payday Clowney’s been offered? That honor belongs to the Cleveland Browns, who are understood to have pledged $18 million on a one-year deal, but the player reportedly has little interest in playing football in the city of Cleveland.

All told, this is beginning to resemble a Goldilocks and the Three Bears scenario. One’s too hot, one’s too cold. Unfortunately, all of the “just right” fits have been allocated elsewhere, as there just aren’t enough teams with Clowney-sized cap space at this point. That ship has sailed.

It doesn’t help that his 2019 season was a relative letdown, either.

So, what is the prolific edge man waiting for? It’s hard to understand what the logic could possibly be behind his protracted stay in free agency, as his salary demand clearly doesn’t mesh with that inconvenient thing known as reality.

All told, he could still end up with a quality team and put up a quality season. But that doesn’t change the fact that no one has conducted his free agency worse than Clowney in 2020.