Jadeveon Clowney leaving could benefit Browns in 2023

Sunday will be the season finale for the Cleveland Browns and it could also spell the final game Jadeveon Clowney plays in orange and brown. 

On Thursday afternoon, Jadeveon Clowney revealed that he is “95 percent sure” that he won’t be back with the Browns in 2023.

Notice the percent number that Clowney used. Let’s circle back to that in just a moment.

It has been a lackluster season for the former 2014 first-overall pick, as he has just two sacks just one year removed from having a career resurgence when he racked up nine sacks. He missed three games last season and has missed four in 2022 with an ankle injury and a concussion.

Clowney blamed his production dip on the coaching staff for putting fellow EDGE rusher Myles Garrett in more favorable matchups. Now, let’s talk about No. 95.

The Browns struggled defensively to start the season and that is the biggest reason this team will watch the playoffs from their couches for the second straight year. Garrett has been highly productive with 15 sacks, second in the NFL. You put your best players in the best possible situation. Clowney is coming off as jealous.

He said of Garrett that there are no issues between the two, and didn’t have a problem, but instead said it was “B.S.” and he doesn’t have time for it. He did leave the door slightly open by stating that there are supposed to be some changes next year, so maybe he will be back.

The fact that Clowney is upset that his teammate, who is one of the best EDGE rushers in the NFL, is put in more favorable positions to succeed says a lot about the fractured locker room due to a lack of leadership.

While he said there were no issues between him and Garrett, he seemed to take a shot at him by saying people are clearly trying to get somebody into the Hall of Fame.

"“You’re all trying to get somebody into the Hall of Fame when all that matters is winning,” Clowney said. “Everybody got here for a reason, and we can all make plays. I know I am.”"

The fact of the matter is that Clowney has always been about himself and his money. He was seeking around $17-18 million in the offseason last year but also wanted a long-term deal. This was coming off a season in which he had just three sacks. He settled for a one-year, $13 million deal with the Browns and ended the season with nine sacks.

He was brought back this year after an offseason in which he did what he normally does; sit out most of the early parts of the offseason until he gets his money. He got another one-year deal from the Browns for $10 million. The kicker here is that Garrett was actively trying to get Clowney back on the team.

Jadeveon Clowney claims make little sense

He also said that the Browns have “got their own guys” and he isn’t one of them. Well, spoiler alert, all of the Browns personnel that make decisions on who is on the roster have brought him in each of the last two years (and chased him the prior offseason as well). So him saying he is not one of their guys is not accurate.

He then contradicted himself later saying he would talk to Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry and feels that Berry believes in him. Earlier he said that nobody believed in him from the Browns’ perspective.

So which is it, Mr. Clowney?

He even offered up the notion that he could see the Browns twice a year, hinting he could sign within the AFC North.

Jack Duffin, of The OBR, said yesterday on Twitter that the Browns could potentially upgrade the defensive line – a major flaw in 2022 – with guys who would be cheaper than Clowney and more effective.

Entering the 2022 season, Clowney was pegged as the Browns’ most overrated player and then went out and lived up to that notion.

At the end of the day, the Clowney experiment worked for one season, but in the grand scheme, it didn’t really as this team has not made the playoffs with him on the roster.