Jadeveon Clowney

Panthers’ View Of OLB Depth Impacted Tetairoa McMillan Pick

April 30th, 2025 at 3:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Panthers have now made three first- or second-round wide receiver picks in three years, bringing in Jonathan Mingo, Xavier Legette and Tetairoa McMillan. Although McMillan’s arrival can be viewed as a sign of early concern regarding Legette, Bryce Young made a push to have the Arizona WR prospect routed to Charlotte.

Young’s endorsement notwithstanding, the Panthers passed on improving their league-worst defense at No. 8. They circled back to their glaring outside linebacker need by using both their Day 2 picks (Nic Scourton, Princely Umanmielen) on the position, with these picks coming after the team shopped Jadeveon Clowney before the draft. The McMillan pick also emerged due to Carolina brass’ view of the draft depth at wide receiver and edge rushers.

Carolina believed this class featured better Day 2 options on the edge compared to wide receiver, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer. This led to the team filling its WR need early while betting it could land edge players soon after. The Panthers did pass on Jalon Walker, whom Breer adds the team had graded highly, to select McMillan. Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen also checked in high on the Panthers’ board, per Breer. Those defenders went 15th and 16th, respectively.

Given the Panthers’ modest approach to replacing Brian Burns last year, passing on Walker is risky. Carolina ranked last in points and yards allowed in 2024, despite its three-win improvement from a dismal 2023, and HC interest in Ejiro Evero — a 2023 and ’24 storyline — dimmed. The Panthers lost their 2025 second-round pick (No. 39), the final asset conveyed in the Young trade, but had picked up No. 57 from the Rams (via the 2024 Braden Fiske swap). The team traded up to Denver’s No. 51 spot for Scourton, who drew some late-first-round buzz. They then traded up (via the Patriots) to No. 77 for Umanmielen. The team will hope the former Texas A&M and Purdue edge rusher can hit the ground running, as Clowney may not be around as a veteran presence.

The Panthers have spoken with multiple teams on Clowney, and GM Dan Morgan did not confirm his roster spot. If Clowney is to return, The Athletic’s Joe Person notes his workload will be reduced. Clowney played 57% of the Ravens’ defensive snaps in 2023 but 64% of the Panthers’ last season. He finished with 5.5 sacks and four pass deflections — both numbers down from 2023. Clowney, 32, did match his Baltimore TFL number (nine) in his first Carolina season. If the former No. 1 overall pick is to return, he will be viewed as a bridge player while the rookies develop alongside free agency addition Patrick Jones. Clowney entering the season as a Panther also would make him a fairly obvious deadline chip.

As for the Panthers’ McMillan move, it came as the 49ers and Packers joined the Rams in showing interest. The Cowboys also appeared ready to take McMillan at No. 12. The 49ers joined the Rams in attempting to trade up with the Panthers, Breer adds.

Passing on a rumored trade-down maneuver, Carolina had shown increased interest in McMillan as the pre-draft process progressed. A late Zoom meeting with WRs coach Rob Moore helped seal the deal, per Breer, who adds the team’s “30” visit with the 6-foot-4 pass catcher did not go as well. McMillan landed in Carolina after a string of meetings elsewhere, potentially contributing to his lack of energy during the team’s in-person visit.

McMillan will team with Legette, Jalen Coker and Adam Thielen as Carolina’s top receivers. As long as Thielen is in the mix, one of the young players would stand to draw backup reps. It would seem Thielen will be tied to trade rumors for a second straight year.

NFC South Notes: Falcons, Clowney, Renfrow

April 30th, 2025 at 12:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL will attempt to put the Shedeur Sanders prank-call storyline in the past, levying fines against the Falcons and new DC Jeff Ulbrich. The veteran coordinator’s son, Jax, made a prank call to Sanders as he fell during the draft. Jax Ulbrich, who pretended to be Saints GM Mickey Loomis when calling the Colorado QB during his draft freefall, apologized to Sanders (after taking the QB’s number off his father’s iPad), but Jeff Ulbrich will lose a chunk of his salary as a result of the act. The league fined Jeff Ulbrich $100K, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, who adds the Falcons will be fined $250K for Sanders’ number being leaked. Jeff Ulbrich said (via The Athletic’s Josh Kendall) he and his son take “full responsibility” for the prank. The veteran assistant said he also apologized to Deion Sanders.

Unlike the Falcons’ Kirk Cousins tampering penalty last year, no draft picks will be taken away for the incident involving the Ulbrichs. The Falcons hired Ulbrich to replace Jimmy Lake, whom Raheem Morris fired after one season on the job. This has certainly not been a smooth ride for Falcons DCs. Ulbrich is the team’s fourth in four years (Ulbrich, Lake, Ryan Nielsen, Dean Pees), and the former Jets interim HC’s tenure is not off to a good start thanks to this development. The Falcons have now been fined $575K over the past three years (h/t Yahoo’s Nate Tice), thanks to this coming after the 2024 tampering issue and 2023 Bijan Robinson injury report matter.

Here is the latest from the NFC South:

Jadeveon Clowney has become available in trades, and the Panthers had thrown his name around before drafting two edge rushers (Nic Scourton, Princely Umanmielen on Day 2. Carolina’s pre-draft discussions on Clowney with multiple teams, per ESPN.com’s David Newton. As Ejiro Evero will begin molding the two rookie edge players, Clowney could be on the move yet again. The Panthers would save $9.78MM by trading Clowney, who is on his sixth NFL team.
The Panthers are pulling Hunter Renfrow back into the NFL, after the former 1,000-yard Raiders wide receiver did not play in 2024. Renfrow, 29, took last year off in part because he was battling an autoimmune disorder (ulcerative colitis) that caused fatigue and weight loss, according to Panthers.com’s Darin Gantt. The Clemson alum said the weight loss caused him to drop to around 150 pounds. Renfrow viewed himself as ready to make a comeback by January, and he is now back to 187 pounds. The Panthers’ receiving setup will not guarantee Renfrow a roster spot, as he fell out of favor with the Raiders following his 1,038-yard 2021 season. But the South Carolina native will have a shot to make an impact in his native region.
One of Ulbrich’s new pieces to arrive in the draft, fourth-round pick Billy Bowman, enters the league as a safety. But that will not be his primary role in Atlanta. The Falcons will shift Bowman into the slot to start his career, Ulbrich said (via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter). The Falcons took Bowman with the No. 118 overall pick. He will head to Georgia after earning first-team All-Big 12 (2023) and third-team All-SEC (2024) acclaim. The Falcons addressed their safety position in the third round (Xavier Watts) and in free agency, bringing in Jordan Fuller as another option to start alongside Jessie Bates. Justin Simmons remains a free agent.
The Saints added some edge-rushing depth this week, agreeing to bring in veteran Chris Rumph. This came shortly after New Orleans agreed to terms with 11 UDFAs.

Panthers Discussing Jadeveon Clowney Trade

April 26th, 2025 at 12:40pm CST by Ben Levine

Jadeveon Clowney‘s future with the Panthers is in doubt. According to ESPN’s David Newton, the Panthers “had talks about trading” the veteran pass rusher prior to the draft. With the organization adding two edge rushers during yesterday’s portion of the draft, a trade still “remains an option.”

Carolina general manager Dan Morgan didn’t necessarily dismiss these reports when asked by reporters about Clowney’s spot on the team.

“We’re still working through the roster,” Morgan said. “We’re still talking through things. Obviously, we’re focused on the draft right now and what’s in front of us.”

Clowney inked a two-year deal with the Panthers last offseason, but it didn’t take long for the former first-overall pick to emerge in trade rumors. With the Panthers considered sellers at last year’s deadline, Clowney was mentioned as a trade candidate, although the team ended up hanging on to him.

After tying a career-high 9.5 sacks with the Ravens in 2023, Clowney finished his first season in Carolina with 5.5 sacks. He still has a season remaining on the two-year, $20MM deal he inked with the Panthers last offseason. The pass rusher is set to count $13.77MM against the cap in 2025. That doesn’t necessarily break the bank, but there may not be suitors lining up for a trade following Clowney’s underwhelming showing in his age-31 season.

At the very least, it’s hard to envision Clowney as a member of next year’s Panthers. The team added Texas A&M pass rusher Nic Scourton in the second round, and they later drafted Ole Miss defensive end Princely Umanmielen in the third. That duo joins a pass-rush corps that also features regular starter D.J. Wonnum, free agent acquisition Patrick Jones, and former third-round pick D.J. Johnson.

Some Panthers Players Unavailable In Trade Market

November 3rd, 2024 at 10:22pm CST by Ely Allen

The Panthers are tied with six other teams at the bottom of the NFL with a 2-7 record, solidifying them as sellers at this year’s fast-approaching trade deadline. While it seems like no pieces would be off-limits in what has been a multi-year rebuild, the media has been reporting otherwise.

Mosty notably, we continue to hear that second-year quarterback Bryce Young is not available in the trade market. Young was benched in Week 3 of the season, leading to several rumors that the former No. 1 overall pick could be available for a potential trade. Though Carolina denied such rumors, plenty of teams called the Panthers inquiring about obtaining the 23-year-old. Diana Russini of The Athletic’s latest report confirms the Panthers’ position that they are “not considering moving the quarterback.”

Young was forced back into the starting lineup last week as Andy Dalton dealt with a thumb injury, and though Carolina lost the contest, the coaching staff was reportedly “encouraged by his improvements and overall commitment to the team.” Young started today, as well, and though his numbers didn’t jump off the stat sheet, he delivered a win to keep the team out of the divisional basement. Russini asserts that, even if the Panthers ultimately do trade Young, they’d get better value for him in the offseason.

While Russini doesn’t believe Young is available in a trade, she does note running back Miles Sanders and edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney as names to look for. This notion was challenged by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, who claimed that Clowney was “more likely than not” staying in Carolina. Clowney had a resurgent 9.5-sack 2023 season with the Ravens but has only been able to amass one sack so far this year in Carolina. He under contract for next year, as well, which makes him more attractive as a trade option who would stick around for more than just the next nine weeks, but Rapoport is under the impression that he remains with the Panthers.

In addition to Young and Clowney, Peter Schrager of FOX Sports reported this morning that he’s been hearing that cornerback Jaycee Horn and running back Chuba Hubbard are also not likely to be moved. Horn has had trouble staying on the field in his first three years, but he’s been healthy in 2024, and the Panthers picked up his fifth-year option for next year, as well. Hubbard is playing in a contract year after a breakout season, so it’d make sense to move him, but like Young, Clowney, and Horn, it appears that he’ll be finishing out the year in Carolina.

Titans’ DE Arden Key Drawing Trade Interest; Latest On Lions’ EDGE Search

November 3rd, 2024 at 9:43am CST by Rory Parks

The Cardinals are interested in the Giants’ Azeez Ojulari, and Arizona’s search for a pass rusher has not stopped there. Per Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required), the Cards have also reached out to the Titans to discuss a trade for defensive end Arden Key.

Key, 28, is under club control through 2025 and is due a manageable $6.5MM salary next season. So even though the 1-6 Titans are obvious sellers at this year’s deadline, they do not need to move Key if they do not get an offer to their liking.

That said, New York is setting a high price on Ojulari, which could in turn boost Tennessee’s leverage in any talks involving Key (although Big Blue is reportedly unlikely to recoup more than a Day 3 selection for Ojulari, regardless of any posturing to the contrary). Key, a former third-round pick of the Raiders, struggled to find his footing with the Silver-and-Black, but he established himself as a useful complementary edge defender by posting 11 sacks and 32 quarterback hits over the 2021-22 seasons, which he split between the 49ers and Jaguars.

He turned that performance into a three-year, $21MM contract with the Titans in the 2023 offseason, and he recorded six sacks and 12 QB hits in his first year in Nashville. This year, he has tallied three sacks and six QB hits through seven games, and Pro Football Focus has assigned him a strong 70.3 pass rush grade.

The 4-4 Cardinals, who surprisingly find themselves at the top of a muddy NFC West picture, have been hit hard by injuries along the defensive line, and GM Monti Ossenfort recently confirmed that he has explored deals that could bolster his club’s pass rush.

At the end of October, Lions head coach Dan Campbell indicated that Detroit could soon be making a move to address its EDGE corps, which has lost both Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport for the season. Armando Salguero of Outkick.com named Key as an “outside possibility” for the Lions, although Key’s performance in Tennessee’s recent loss to the Detroit – two sacks and six total tackles – could have caught the eye of Campbell & Co.

The Lions have already been connected to the Browns’ Za’Darius Smith, and both Russini and ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirm that Detroit has indeed checked in on Smith. Salguero, meanwhile, names the Panthers’ Jadeveon Clowney and the Saints’ Chase Young as other possible targets for the Lions.

Titans DL Jeffery Simmons “Off Limits” In Trade Talks

October 26th, 2024 at 10:55pm CST by Ben Levine

The Titans have already started pivoting to 2025, with the organization having dealt wideout DeAndre Hopkins and linebacker Ernest Jones over the past week. While the front office will likely continue to sell off players with an eye towards the future, one piece that is likely staying put is defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Simmons is considered “off-limits” in trade talks. The Titans believe the defensive lineman is a “big part of their future,” and the rebuilding squad presumably has Simmons penciled in to their future cap sheets.

The former first-round pick has spent his entire career in Tennessee, earning a pair of All-Pro nods while collecting 26.5 sacks. The lineman inked a four-year, $94MM extension with the organization prior to the 2023 campaign, but he was limited to only 12 games that season before landing on IR.

The 27-year-old has appeared in five of the Titans’ six games this year, collecting 17 stops and one sack. Pro Football Focus has ranked Simmons 18th among 119 qualifying interior defenders this season, including the third-best positional grade for run defense.

Naturally, a number of teams would love to add the six-foot-four, 305-pound lineman to their defense, with Russini specifically pointing to the Lions, Ravens, and Vikings. Those squads would also likely be eyeing Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby and Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett, although Russini echoes previous reports that those two players won’t be moved. Instead, the reporter suggests DL-needy teams could look to the likes of Jadeveon Clowney (Panthers), Preston Smith (Packers), and Za’Darius Smith (Browns).

Ravens Expected To Explore Trade For Pass Rusher

October 20th, 2024 at 11:51am CST by Rory Parks

The Lions, who will be without star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson for the remainder of the season – unless they advance to the Super Bowl, perhaps – have been connected to some of the top pass rushers thought to be available in advance of this year’s trade deadline. That includes Haason Reddick – before he agreed to a reworked deal with the Jets this morning – and Za’Darius Smith. According to Albert Breer of SI.com, the Ravens are another club that will be monitoring the pass rush market.

After leading the league with 60 sacks last season, Baltimore continues to perform at a high level in that regard in 2024, at least in terms of raw numbers. The club’s 19 sacks are currently the sixth-highest total in the NFL, but its overall pass defense has been a major liability. The Ravens are surrendering the second-most passing yards per game, and while a safety or cornerback addition would therefore seem to be a distinct possibility, bolstering the pass rushing corps could have a positive trickle-down effect on the secondary.

Smith profiles as a potential target for the Ravens, just as he is a possible fit for the Lions. Smith, of course, began his career with Baltimore, who made him a fourth-round pick in 2015. He parlayed a successful platform campaign in 2018 into a four-year, $66MM deal with the Packers, and he more than lived up to that contract over his first two years in Green Bay, racking up 26 sacks during that time and earning Pro Bowl honors in both seasons. However, he played in just one game in 2021 and became a cap casualty the following offseason.

In March 2022, the Ravens and Smith reportedly had an agreement to bring Smith back to Baltimore, but Smith backed out of the deal and signed with the Vikings about a week later. Although he earned his third Pro Bowl selection with Minnesota in 2022, he sought a release after that season, and he was eventually traded to the Browns, who also agreed to rework his contract.

In 2023, his first year in Cleveland, Smith notched just 5.5 sacks, his lowest full-season total since 2017. However, the Browns chose to retain him via a two-year, $23.5MM contract this offseason, and since most of that deal’s value comes in the form of bonuses, his deal would be eminently palatable for an acquiring club. Whether the Ravens would be willing to revisit a reunion after being jilted a little over two years ago is an open question (the fact that Cleveland and Baltimore play in the same division could also complicate matters).

While any speculation connecting Reddick to Baltimore has been put to bed by virtue of Reddick’s decision to end his holdout and report to the Jets, another speculative fit for the Ravens would, like Smith, represent a reunion. Jadeveon Clowney, who enjoyed perhaps the finest year of his career as a member of the Ravens in 2024, signed a two-year, $20MM deal with the Panthers this offseason. With Carolina looking like an obvious seller, Clowney could theoretically be on the block.

Speaking of veteran pass rushers who had previous stints in Charm City, the Ravens recently signed Yannick Ngakoue to their active roster after adding him to the practice squad at the end of September. The well-traveled defender, who has played in two games for Baltimore this year and who picked up a sack in the team’s Week 6 win over Washington, technically could have been elevated from the taxi squad one more time before being added to the 53-man unit. However, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports, rival teams had begun to show interest in poaching Ngakoue off the p-squad, so Baltimore felt compelled to protect him.

Panthers Sign OLB Jadeveon Clowney

March 27th, 2024 at 10:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

After five seasons on one-year agreements, Jadeveon Clowney will land a deal that covers more than one season. The Panthers will provide it, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports.

Carolina is giving Clowney a two-year deal worth $20MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The contract can max out at $24MM. The Panthers have announced the signing, one that will send Clowney back to the region where he grew up. The Rock Hill, South Carolina, native — who became a No. 1 overall pick after a standout career with the Gamecocks — will be tasked with helping a Panthers team that is starting over at edge rusher.

The Jets and Ravens were in on Clowney as well, but the Panthers may well have edged the AFC squads out with a better offer. Clowney will collect a far better deal compared to his 2023 Ravens pact — a one-year, $2.5MM agreement that came to pass during training camp — and has scored his first multiyear agreement since his Texans rookie contract back in 2014.

Panthers GM Dan Morgan said this week the Panthers had not given up on Clowney, despite a report of aggressive Jets interest. The 31-year-old edge defender will join D.J. Wonnum and K’Lavon Chaisson as Carolina free agency pickups in the wake of the Brian Burns trade. While none of these players is a Burns-level pass rusher, Clowney is coming off a 9.5-sack season — more than Burns totaled in 2023 — and has been productive for multiple teams.

Although Clowney is not a lock to play for the Panthers beyond 2024, this agreement will end his string of one-year accords that stretches back to his 2019 franchise tag season. The Texans tagged Clowney but traded him to the Seahawks, with the trade terms preventing Seattle from tagging the former South Carolina phenom a second time. That did not turn out to be an issue, as Clowney has never checked in as a high-level pass rusher. He then signed a one-year deal with the Titans, two one-year pacts with the Browns and landed with the Ravens on a low-cost accord just before last season.

Not exactly a consistent pass rusher, Clowney has offered plus run defense at points and has been a player capable of providing pressure inside. In addition to coming off a career-high sack total, Clowney posted 19 QB hits and forced two fumbles to help the Ravens lead the NFL in scoring defense. The Ravens were interested in keeping the 6-foot-5 defender, with Clowney’s wife (via CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson) confirming he had spoken with the AFC North team about another deal. Baltimore was probably not as interested at that price. Baltimore is still interested in re-signing Kyle Van Noy, who nearly matched Clowney by reaching nine sacks despite joining the team in late September.

Clowney has battled injuries, with knee trouble a particular issue in Houston. He missed eight games for the Titans, completing a sackless season, and clashed with Browns coaches during his second Cleveland season — a two-sack campaign. Opposite Myles Garrett in 2021, however, Clowney reached nine sacks. Despite Clowney’s low sack total in 2022, Pro Football Focus graded him 27th among edge rushers — ahead of an 18th-place assessment last season. PFF ranked Clowney as a top-20 run defender in 2023 as well. While Clowney’s three Pro Bowl nods all came during his Texans tenure, he has remained a productive performer into his early 30s.

Two of the three edges that trekked to Charlotte on a visit early in free agency have signed. Chase Young did not, opting for a Saints deal amid neck concerns, but Clowney and Wonnum will be key parts of Ejiro Evero‘s defense in 2024. Burns anchored Carolina’s edge rush for five seasons, with Yetur Gross-Matos — who landed a 49ers deal early in free agency — providing inconsistent supplemental work. Hybrid pass rusher Frankie Luvu also left, joining the Commanders.

The Panthers probably are not done staffing their edge positions, with a draft choice seemingly prudent considering the free agency-heavy makeup at the position. But Clowney gives the team a versatile piece to deploy as it attempts to recover from last season’s 2-15 debacle.

Ravens Rumors: OLBs, Mitchell, Dobbins

March 26th, 2024 at 9:57pm CST by Ely Allen

The Ravens defense saw a number of surprise contributors in 2023. From backup safety Geno Stone leading the AFC in interceptions to Justin Madubuike, Jadeveon Clowney, and Kyle Van Noy exploding to help the team lead the NFL in sacks, Baltimore excelled thanks to contributions from players other than All-Pros like Roquan Smith, Kyle Hamilton, and Patrick Queen.

All four of the surprise contributors mentioned above had expiring contracts when the Ravens fell short of their Super Bowl aspirations. Madubuike received the franchise tag before ultimately signing a massive four-year, $98MM extension after his 13.0 sack-season. Stone earned a nice deal of his own, branching out to the division-rival Bengals as he searched for an opportunity to start full-time, instead of sharing the stage with Hamilton and Marcus Williams.

Clowney and Van Noy, on the other hand, remain free agents on the open market. Clowney saw a bounce-back season following a disappointing exit from Cleveland. Despite joining the roster in the middle of the preseason, Clowney would start 15 games for the Ravens, matching his career-high in sacks (9.5) while tallying nine tackles for loss, 19 quarterback hits, five passes defensed, and two forced fumbles. Despite early reports that both sides were interested in a new deal, the Panthers and Jets have swept in as teams with massive interest in signing Clowney.

Van Noy exploded for the rare career-year at 32 years old. Despite only starting three games as a rotation player, Van Noy finished third on the team with a career-high nine sacks. Van Noy hasn’t been nearly as active in free agency visits, but his stellar 2023 season all but ensures that he will earn at least one more NFL contract.

Head coach John Harbaugh recently claimed to be optimistic about the prospects of bringing one or both of Clowney and/or Van Noy back in 2024, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. If they aren’t able to do so, though, the Ravens continue to have faith in former first-round pick Odafe Oweh and former second-round pick David Ojabo. According to Harbaugh, Ojabo, who has only appeared in five games over his first two seasons, is healthy. The long-time head coach predicted a breakout season for the 23-year-old in 2024.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of Baltimore, where our thoughts and condolences are after the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge:

The Ravens certainly lost a massive offensive chess piece when J.K. Dobbins suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury in Baltimore’s season opener. Their losses compounded late in the season when, in the midst of a run towards the No. 1 seed in the AFC, Keaton Mitchell, an explosive undrafted rookie who was helping to replace Dobbins’ lost production, suffered an ACL tear in Week 15. General manager Eric DeCosta spoke on his recovery recently, saying that the team feels Mitchell is on track “to come back this season,” per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
Speaking of Dobbins, though he’s not currently a Raven after the team allowed his rookie contract to expire, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network informs us that the 25-year-old rusher has been cleared for football activities. His surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, said in a letter to select teams today that Dobbins looks “outstanding” coming off his torn Achilles. Dobbins is expected to begin taking visits soon, though the Ravens have not been mentioned much as a candidate to land his continued services.

Panthers Still Pursuing Jadeveon Clowney

March 25th, 2024 at 3:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Panthers have made multiple additions at outside linebacker, but given what the team lost, more help will be needed ahead of Week 1. One such pursuit is ongoing, despite some notable interest from another team.

Carolina is still in on the Jadeveon Clowney market, with GM Dan Morgan indicating Monday (via The Athletic’s Joe Person) the team is staying in touch with the former No. 1 overall pick’s camp. The Panthers hosted Clowney on a visit early in free agency, but as of late, the Jets have been the team most closely connected to the veteran edge rusher.

A recent report indicated the Jets are “highly motivated” to land Clowney, with the sides being in constant contact since a recent meeting took place. The Panthers met with the South Carolina native first, doing so on the same day they hosted Chase Young and D.J. Wonnum. Young signed with the Saints, with a neck issue affecting his market; no team cleared Young on a physical this offseason. Wonnum did commit to Carolina, which also took a flier on former Jacksonville first-rounder K’Lavon Chaisson. But these two would not form a starter-caliber edge duo, keeping the Panthers in the market for an upgrade.

The Panthers, of course, traded Brian Burns to the Giants for a 2024 second-round pick, a 2024 fifth-rounder and a swap of 2025 fifths. This brought an underwhelming conclusion — from the Panthers’ end, at least — to a saga that famously included a Rams offer of two first-rounders and a third back in 2022. Former starter Yetur Gross-Matos, who could not quite justify the Panthers’ second-round investment, also signed a two-year, $18MM deal with the 49ers.

Clowney, 31, has a history of taking his time in free agency. A lucrative extension or free agency agreement never materialized for the one-time mega-prospect; instead, he has made quite a bit of money hopping around the league on one-year deals. If Clowney lands another one-year pact, it would be his fifth. He also played the 2019 season — with the Seahawks — on the franchise tag. Clowney waited until September 2020 to join the Titans while agreeing to his two Browns contracts in April 2021 and May 2022. He did not join the Ravens last year until August, forming a duo of late-summer OLB acquisitions with Kyle Van Noy.

Both Clowney and Van Noy were productive in Baltimore, which will likely lead to a better 2024 deal compared to his 2023 payment ($2.5MM). Clowney matched his career high with 9.5 sacks. Carolina totaled just 27 as a team; Burns was responsible for eight of those. The Panthers will likely look to the draft as well here, though they do not have a first-round pick, but Clowney would represent a nice stopgap solution for Ejiro Evero this season.

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