Houston Texans decided to place the franchise tag on their Pro Bowl linebacker Jadeveon Clowney back in March and made sure he plays at NRG Stadium in 2019 as well. Now they want to make sure Clowney remains in Texans’ jersey well past that.
Texans’ general manager Brian Gaine recently told the team’s official website that the organization is working with Clowney on a new deal and are hoping to get everything ironed out until the June 15th deadline.
“That’s the spirit of the franchise tag,” – said Gaine. “You know, there’s a reason why we did that with every hope and intention to continue to work on that. That’s a negotiation, it’s a process. It has to be a deal that makes sense for both sides, for the player, for the organization as it relates to short term and long term. That’s still the plan.”
Although throwing a big pile of money on Jadeveon Clowney seems like a no-brainer, Houston Texans are still not sure that they can make a huge investment in the 26-year-old.
Clowney, who was the first overall pick in 2014, struggled to stay healthy early in his career and played just one full season in his five years in NFL. Also, his numbers, although respectable, are not exactly that eye-catching as he never had a season in which he recorded 10.0 sacks or more.
On the other hand, Clowney will probably demand the top money for his position as he knows that he could get similar or even more from an edge rush-needy team if he was to hit the open market. He is scheduled to earn $15.97 million on the franchise tag this year.
