Raiders Targeting Trent Brown, Ja’Wuan James
The Raiders may have just traded away their best offensive lineman when they agreed to ship Kelechi Osemele to the Jets, but they still want to fortify the O-line in free agency. Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link), offensive tackle Trent Brown is high atop Oakland’s wish list.
Brown had an excellent platform season in his first (and likely final) year with the Patriots in 2018, starting all 19 regular and postseason games for New England en route to a Super Bowl championship. Pro Football Focus was bullish on his performance, ranking him 32nd among 80 eligible linemen.
The Buccaneers just inked Donovan Smith to a three-year pact worth $41.25MM ($27MM guaranteed), and it would not be a surprise to see Brown top that figure in terms of years, AAV, and total guarantees. That is especially true given that he profiles as the best left tackle on the free agent market by a wide margin.
Rapoport confirms as much, tweeting that Brown could be among the highest-paid tackles in the league. He turns 26 next month and clearly has Pro Bowl upside. RapSheet also says Brown could make his decision early on in the tampering window, which opens in less than an hour. The Patriots declined to use the franchise tag on him but are still interested in re-signing him, and the Texans have some interest as well. Brown, though, may prefer a different destination, as Vic Tafur of The Athletic tweets that head coach Jon Gruden does not plan to move 2018 first-round pick Kolton Miller from left tackle.
Per Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oakland is also interested in Dolphins right tackle Ja’Wuan James (Twitter link). New GM Mike Mayock is prioritizing the offensive tackle position, per Gehlken, and while Miami would like to retain James, the rebuilding Fins may find it difficult to do so.
Texans Tag Jadeveon Clowney As LB
Both the Chiefs and Texans may be in for grievances. Both teams used their franchise tags on edge defenders — Dee Ford and Jadeveon Clowney, respectively — and each team officially classified its tag recipient as a linebacker. The linebacker tag comes at a $15.443MM price. Both players have cases to be tagged as defensive ends, with Clowney frequently lining up as a lineman for Houston and Ford set to play end in Kansas City’s new 4-3 scheme. The defensive end price: $17.128MM — the second-highest tag figure. Clowney already received just more than $1MM from the Texans to resolve a dispute about what position he was categorized as in regards to his fifth-year option. That may go toward preempting a grievance here, but it’s not certain. A Ford grievance seems likely. He spends more time rushing from the defensive end position in the Chiefs’ sub-packages. Terrell Suggs filed a grievance about a linebacker tag in 2008, and an arbitrator ruled the parties to split the difference between the linebacker and end tags. But this is a case-by-case process.
Texans Make Offer To Tyrann Mathieu
- One player whose market may be in better position than it was last year, Tyrann Mathieu will have options. The Texans are trying to re-sign the seventh-year safety, and this process has now produced a preliminary offer, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Mathieu is believed to still want to remain in Houston, Wilson writes, and the parties have been linked to a reunion for months. But with less than a week until the legal tampering period, the 26-year-old defender is a threat to depart.
Texans Release CB Kevin Johnson
The Texans have released former first-round cornerback Kevin Johnson, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). This was the expected move after the Texans shopped Johnson but were unable to find a suitable deal. 
Johnson, a talented corner, was due $9.069MM on his fifth-year option. The option was guaranteed for injury until the start of the league year next week, so it appears that Johnson has received a clean bill of health. He’ll now have an opportunity to shop his services before the start of free agency on March 13.
Johnson’s 2018 season was mostly lost due to concussions. In September, the Texans parked him on IR and he was unable to return.
Before the move, the Texans still had plenty of cap space with $80.9MM available. Their total, good for third-most in the league, inches up a bit after cutting Johnson. Some of that money will probably go towards fortifying a cornerback group that has clear issues: Johnathan Joseph will turn 35 this year,Aaron Colvin missed extensive time last season, and Shareece Wright is set for free agency next week.
Texans To Cut Kevin Johnson?
The Texans are expected to release cornerback Kevin Johnson, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. As previously reported, the Texans have discussed trading Johnson, but it’s much more likely that he’ll be cut given his contract (due $9.1MM in 2019) and recent concussion issues (played only one game in 2018). Still, releasing Johnson will leave the Texans extra thin at cornerback, so the position figures to be a priority for them in March and April.
Texans Franchise Tag Jadeveon Clowney
The Texans have franchise tagged outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, according to a team announcement. If no long-term deal is reached between now and the July extension deadline for franchised players, Clowney will be cuffed by a one-year, $15.443MM tender. 
The Texans used the non-exclusive tag on Clowney, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. With this designation, Clowney can shop his offer sheet around, but an unmatched offer sheet would result in the new team sending two first-round picks to the Texans as compensation. The non-exclusive version used more commonly than the exclusive tag in the NFL and only occasionally results in a trade. Last year, however, the Dolphins and Browns swung a tag-and-trade involving Jarvis Landry, though the compensation was much lower than two first-round picks.
Teams have rankled players in the past by tagging them as outside linebackers rather than defensive ends, but it won’t make a huge difference for Clowney. Last year, the Texans gave Clowney an extra $1MM to settle a dispute over his fifth-year option, so the 120% rule on the tag would give him a $15.967MM salary for 2019. Therefore, the difference between Clowney’s tag and the tag he’d get as a defensive end ($17MM) is minimal.
Clowney likely would have preferred to test free agency before coming to the table with the Texans, but, like the other top edge rushers, Clowney will be held back by the tag. The 26-year-old would undoubtedly cash in as an unrestricted free agent, but the Texans are reportedly unwilling to go “anywhere near” the market-resetting deals signed by Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald last summer. For what it’s worth, GM Brian Gaine says the team’s “goal is to continue to work with his representation on a long-term contract.”
For his part, Clowney is expected to take his sweet time when it comes to signing the tender. Without a long-term deal or a signed tender, the defensive end will have the right to abstain from offseason activities, training camp, and even games. An in-season holdout would cost Clowney $900K+ for every missed game.
Latest On Tyrann Mathieu, Jadeveon Clowney
The Texans have not deviated from their Jadeveon Clowney plan. A franchise tag before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline is imminent. The team is still trying to keep Tyrann Mathieu off the market as well.
Houston is making a push to retain Mathieu before he hits free agency, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes. No deal is imminent at this juncture, however.
After the season ended, Mathieu indicated he wanted to be back with the Texans. Bill O’Brien said at the Combine he hopes a deal will be finalized. The team has the money to make that happen, holding more cap space ($80.9MM) than all but two teams. But the safety market appears to have restarted, after going to a strange place in 2018, and the former All-Pro will likely want a deal closer to the one he inked with the Cardinals in 2016 than the one-year, $7MM pact he signed with the Texans.
Prior to Eric Berry‘s $13MM-per-year deal, Mathieu was the league’s highest-paid safety — at $12.5MM AAV. He may not be in position to land that, but with Landon Collins and Earl Thomas potentially set to be franchise-tagged (in Collins’ case) or sign a new big-money deal, the 26-year-old Mathieu may want to see what his market looks like. Eric Reid signed a deal far more lucrative than any team was willing to authorize last year, and Lamarcus Joyner is expected to hit free agency, too, pointing to an interesting signing period for this position.
As for Clowney, he is not expected to sign his franchise tender soon after the Texans tag him, Wilson adds. His impending tag means the Texans have barely a week left with exclusive Mathieu negotiating rights. The legal tampering period begins March 11.
Texans Discussing Kevin Johnson Trade
The Texans are shopping Kevin Johnson at the Combine. In advance of his fifth-year option season, Johnson has become the subject of trade conversations this weekend, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Johnson, who played just one game last season due to a concussion, is due $9.1MM in 2019. Having dealt with other injuries in the past, Johnson is certainly a release candidate. He will have to pass a physical by March 17 for that to occur, however.
Houston has plenty of cap space ($80.9MM — third-most in the league) but has not seen Johnson live up to his draft slot. The Texans do not exactly feature a stable cornerback situation, though. Stalwart Johnathan Joseph will turn 35 this year, and Shareece Wright is a free agent. Aaron Colvin missed extensive time last season.
The No. 16 overall pick in 2015, Johnson has missed 29 games. If another team does not make a move to land him, on a cornerback market that isn’t especially strong, it appears likely the Texans would release him.
Latest On Texans, Jadeveon Clowney
With Tuesday marking the first day teams can apply franchise tags to plays, the plan in Houston remains to tag Jadeveon Clowney. That has been the expected course of action for months.
In addition to reporting the Texans are not deviating from their long-rumored strategy, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes an extension could be complicated. The Texans are not planning to pay “anywhere near” as much as Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald received when they reset the defender market last summer.
Interestingly, the Texans could afford a Clowney deal on the $23MM-AAV level. The team holds more than $77MM in cap space. It will cost north of $17MM to tag the 25-year-old standout. Clowney, who of course was drafted ahead of Mack and Donald in 2014, now has three Pro Bowls to his credit. He has posted back-to-back nine-plus-sack seasons. While the South Carolina product has not shown himself to be on the level of Mack or Donald, his negotiations coming in a year when the cap is expected to approach or exceed $190MM works in his favor.
“I came (into the league) with them guys. Of course I want to be up there with them,” Clowney said of Mack and Donald, via Wilson. “It’s all about timing in everything about this league. Injuries happen. You get paid at a certain time. You hit the market at the right time. I think those guys deserve those contracts.”
However, unlike the Bears and Rams, the Texans already have a pass rusher, J.J. Watt, on a high-end contract. That $16MM-AAV deal, now that Watt re-emerged as one of the NFL’s best players, may need to be revisited soon as well.
Texans senior vice president of football administration Chris Olsen plans to meet with Clowney’s agent at the Combine next week, Wilson adds. That will provide a clearer measurement as to how close the sides are. A report earlier Monday indicated Clowney’s work ethic may cause additional hesitancy regarding a long-term deal. But health-wise, the back half of Clowney’s rookie contract helped change his narrative.
An injury risk earlier in his career, Clowney has shed those concerns over the past three seasons. After playing in 30 regular-season games from 2016-17, Clowney missed the Texans’ offseason program last year due to knee surgery. He played in 15 games this past season.
The gap between the Mack-Donald tier and Von Miller ($19MM per year) is significant, and while Clowney has not produced on Miller’s level, it should be expected he will want a deal perhaps well north of the Broncos superstar’s pact — considering Miller’s extension occurred when the cap resided at $155.27MM.
Texans Wary Of Clowney Extension?
- King is skeptical of the Texans reaching a long-term deal with Jadeveon Clowney this offseason because he’s “not as hard of worker bee some others on that defense are.” However, that could change if Clowney receives the franchise tag and proves himself in 2019. Clowney recently earned a payment of $1.005MM to resolve a dispute over the position designation for his fifth-year option, so he’d earn roughly $17.3MM under the terms of the tag.