Why could Seahawks afford Antonio Brown and not Jadeveon Clowney?

While most offseason rumors regarding the Seahawks have centered around whether or not defensive end Jadeveon Clowney would return for at least one more season in Seattle, another big-name player has been linked to the Seahawks recently: Former Steelers, Raiders and Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown.

Gallant: Hawks shouldn’t sign Antonio Brown because he won’t change

Jake Heaps, a former Seahawks quarterback and current host of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Tom, Jake and Stacy, has said said over the course of the last month or so that he believes Seattle has some interest in bringing the four-time First-Team All-Pro receiver into the fold and said this week that quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Geno Smith want Brown in Seattle.

Also this week, NFL.com’s Mike Silver reported that Brown has received rather serious interest from both the Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens. You can read what Heaps and Silver said about the Seahawks’ reported interest in Brown at this link.

The issue in signing Brown would be the baggage that comes with it. He’s had a number of legal issues in 2020, such as assaulting a truck driver and has had police called to his house multiple times over domestic issues, including shouting matches with the mother of his children, which he recorded and posted online.

His time in Pittsburgh ended with him being benched in a must-win Week 17 game. He asked for a trade, which he received, and he was shipped to Oakland where, due to a number of issues such as frostbitten feet, a threat to retire if he could not use his old helmet and than getting into altercations with general manager Mike Mayock.

Brown was released before ever playing a regular season game for the Raiders and signed with the Patriots, where he played just one game before he was released due to multiple sexual assault claims as well as a report that he’d sent threatening text messages to one of his accusers. He’s been unsigned since after Week 2 of 2019 and it’s believed he’ll face some sort of punishment from the NFL if he signs with a team.

On Wednesday, Heaps said that it would be a lot easier for the Seahawks to sign Brown than Clowney simply because of money.

“Antonio Brown is not going to be (receiving) $10 million-plus,” Heaps said. “The way I see it is you’re giving him a contract that’s going to be around I would say a $4 or $5 million base that, with incentives, could get up to $7 or $8 (million) potentially. You’ve got enough cap room to be able to make that happen.”

While Brown’s market is limited due to his off the field antics, in the case of Clowney, he remains unsigned due to his contract demands. Early in the offseason, Clowney was reportedly seeking a long-term deal worth over $20 million annually. His market never materialized in that way, and later on, he reportedly lowered his asking price to about $17 to $18 million.

Most teams have been looking for short-term deals with Clowney at lower prices than he’s been seeking due in part to his injury history, which includes multiple knee injuries and most recently a core injury that cost him three games with the Seahawks.

According to recent reports (you can read the latest on Clowney’s market here), the Seahawks and Clowney haven’t talked in months and that Seattle’s best offer to Clowney was for one year at $15 million. The Cleveland Browns reportedly offered him a one-year $18 million deal that he hasn’t accepted, though it’s unclear if the offer is still on the table.

Currently, the Seahawks sit at roughly $14 million in available cap space according to OverTheCap. And whether the Seahawks try to sign Clowney or Brown, Heaps said there will be some players on the roster who could become cap casualties in order to help with the signings.

“Now, it could be on the lower end with guys who have signed their tenders like (receiver) David Moore or (tight end) Jacob Hollister – guys like that. Anybody else like (defensive end) Branden Jackson who’ve signed their tenders,” he said. “Or you could be looking at bigger cap savings with guys like (linebacker) K.J. Wright or (safety) Bradley McDougald. There are other guys on the roster that hold bigger cap-savings numbers.

“Again, whether it’s Antonio Brown, Jadeveon Clowney or anyone else you add, it’s going to have a cause and effect. But actually signing Antonio Brown would be easier to get done contractually and cap wise than it is Jadeveon Clowney.”

You can listen to the second hour of Wednesday’s Tom, Jake and Stacy at this link or in the player below.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake Heaps on Twitter.

Can Hawks roll with Marquise Blair or should they pursue Jamal Adams?

Follow @TheBGustafson