Seahawks could repeat their Clowney move with a late offseason addition
Jul 5, 2020, 11:07 AM
Jadeveon Clowney didn't join the Seahawks in 2019 until after the preseason. (Getty)
(Getty)
This Seahawks offseason has been a lot like the last one – focused on whether or not Jadeveon Clowney is going to be acquired by the team.
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In 2019, there were plenty of rumors about whether Clowney, who had requested a trade after the Houston Texans put a franchise tag on him – would wind up in Seattle. And, well, he did – it just took a while. In fact, it took until the offseason was essentially over, as a trade between the Seahawks and Texans was finally pulled off in between the final preseason game and Week 1 of the NFL season.
In 2020, meanwhile, it’s been all about whether Clowney will return to the Seahawks after testing the free agency waters, which have to this point proven to be quite chilly for the talented pass rusher.
As we get deeper and deeper into the offseason, it’s easy to wonder if Seattle could very well repeat its move with Clowney from a year ago and make a big addition just when you would least expect it. Jake Heaps of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Tom, Jake and Stacy not only believes it’s possible – he’s pretty sure at this point it’s a certainty. The move just may not be with Clowney.
“I definitely think the Seahawks are going to make a late offseason acquisition. Now the question is what position will that be,” the former Seahawks quarterback said during a recent Four-Down Territory segment.
It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that Clowney is once again a late acquisition for Seattle, though a recent report suggests he’s more keen on going to Dallas or New Orleans right now. But if it’s not Clowney, it could be another defensive end who could make a big impact for the Seahawks’ pass rush.
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“Is that going to be Jadeveon Clowney and (fellow free agent) Everson Griffen, who have not signed up to this point, surprisingly?” Heaps posed. “… I think (they) are somebody that you can definitely keep an eye on along with Yannick Ngakoue also being a possibility as well.”
Ngakoue would be an almost carbon copy of what happened with Clowney in 2019, as the one-time Pro Bowler has requested a trade out Jacksonville and the Seahawks seem like a logical landing spot for him.
Defensive end isn’t the only spot where Heaps thinks Seahawks general manager John Schneider may target an addition before the regular season starts in September, though.
“The other two positions you have to look at are receiver – the obvious being Josh Gordon or Antonio Brown. I think those two names are absolutely on the table for the Seattle Seahawks when you look at the receiver position,” Heaps said (more on the situations with Gordon and Brown here). “And third and final, I think defensive tackle is still a position that when I look at this group, I am very concerned about the lack of run-stopping ability and depth across that defensive tackle position.”
Defensive tackle may be the least likely of the three spots to see a major addition, however, as there aren’t big names out there like DE and WR.
“You’ve got good players in Poona Ford and Jarran Reed, but to be elite, you need to be able to have great depth and rotational depth at that position,” Heaps said of defensive tackle.
Then again, maybe the Seahawks will start a new trend and actually add at more than one spot before the season.
“Those are three areas that I think the Seahawks could address and they will address at least one of those positions, if not two of the three positions,” Heaps said.
Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake Heaps on Twitter.
