Wyman: Mayowa signing signals that Seahawks likely won’t keep Clowney

Apr 2, 2020, 11:45 AM

The Seahawks' signing of Benson Mayowa could cost them Jadeveon Clowney. (Getty)

(Getty)

Assistant Editor of SeattleSports.com

The Seahawks made another move to improve the team’s lackluster 2019 pass rush by signing defensive end Benson Mayowa to a one-year deal.

Huard: Seahawks send message to Clowney by signing Mayowa

Mayowa, 28, started his career with Seattle as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and after bouncing around through his NFL career, he is back in the Pacific Northwest a year after recording 7 sacks for the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders.

The deal isn’t a large one by any means, as it’s reportedly $3 million guaranteed and can exceed $4 million if certain incentives are hit, per NFL.com’s Tom Peliserro, but the move could signal the end of the Seahawks’ pursuit of Jadeveon Clowney according to 710 ESPN Seattle’s Dave Wyman.

Neither Mayowa’s deal or the deal of defensive end Bruce Irvin have been made official, so OverTheCap.com has the Seahawks as having just over $14 million in available cap space. After Mayowa’s deal, that’s around $11 million. No specifics of Irvin’s contract have been revealed, but if he got a deal similar to Mayowa’s, that would easily put the Seahawks at under $10 million in available cap space, and that’s after releasing both Ed Dickson and Tedric Thompson last week, which cleared up a little over $5 million.

Wyman thinks that the Mayowa deal may be the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of the team’s attempt to re-sign Clowney.

“I think that might be an indication that they’re not able to get him,” he said on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore. “I think that the Seahawks are going to be really strong on the offer that they have (made) and it’s a take it or leave it-type of deal.”

Reports of what Clowney has been asking for and what he’s been offered are all over the map. What’s widely believed is that he is has been asking for $20 or $21 million per season. ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported Wednesday that Clowney has lowered his asking price to that of $17 or $18 million. But there have been other reports the last few weeks that differ.

Some have said Clowney could seek a one-year deal to reset his value for next offseason when the salary cap will increase. Some reports, such as by Corbin Smith of Seahawks Maven, have said the Seahawks made him an offer worth $18.5 million per year. A report by thepick6.com said the Seahawks were offering $13 million a year, and 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake Heaps was able to confirm that website’s source.

Most of the top pass rushers have already signed in free agency, leaving Clowney as the clear top defensive end left. Wyman thinks Seattle could look for a more rotational approach to the pass rush for 2020, similar to in 2013 when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl and were regularly rotating five to seen edge rushers in throughout games.

“Now you have Mayowa and maybe you put him along with Bruce Irvin and then maybe you can get something done with Everson Griffen,” he said. “But to me, it just seems like it’s much more unlikely that they sign Clowney … For the limited amount of reps that (Mayowa) had, that’s pretty good production. If you can go and get two or three guys like that, which I think they’re in the process of doing, then the Clowney price tag, I just think he’s going to be terribly disappointed he’s not going to get the money that he wants and I don’t think the Seahawks are going to pay it to him.”

Listen to the full discussion at this link or in the player below at the 37:10 mark.

710 ESPN Seattle’s Dave Wyman is not on Twitter.