Are you guys really in favor of paying top dollar for Clowne

I'm good with paying him well, but highest paid defensive player in the game? Look, he's a sixth year vet, in a BRUTAL position. IDK that I want us spending the big bucks on it. I've wached the Patriot dynasty for years and it's just not how sucess is built. It's how franchises screw themselves long term, spending big on players at the end of their careers.

If we can keep him, I know it will cost, but I'm in favor of an incentive and field time based contract only. I just don't think we can afford to spend big and not get production. I see no way it's justified. Good teams build mainly from the draft, at least ones that stay good over the long haul.


I'm gonna be PISSED if they pay out the ass for him in guaranteed money, but all the same that's exactly what I'll bet they do, and I bet it bites us too.... :34853_doh:

I agree with you about the importance of building through the draft, but it isn't an either/or situation. We have a set amount of salary cap space to spend on free agency after setting aside money to pay the incoming rookies, and it has to go somewhere.

Clowney is 26 years old and in the prime of his career. Who on the Seahawks would you rather give an extension to? Clowney is on a higher level than either Reed or Ifedi, but we could still afford all three of them. What other FA would you rather sign? According to my arithmetic we could bring back all of our RFA/ERFA, re-negotiate Britt, resign QJeff at 5m APY, sign either Scherff/Conklin for $9m APY, Clowney for $20m APY and then still have enough to consider $17m APY for pass rusher like Ngakoue.

This is a huge off-season for us because we have a ton of cap flexibility.

Yes. Pay the man.

If its for Aaron Donald type money then no. Spending vast amounts of money for DE is never a recipe for success. Spending huge amounts on DL in general has not equaled a lot of success.

I don't see how we get around paying Clowney as he's the only one performing at a high level and has always been aggressive about his worth (see Texans). Ansah, gone. Shaquem, can help with speed in sub packages but will always need help due to size. One shared sack in 2019. Collier--the first rounder, was a healthy scratch in our last game. Three tackles in 2019.

The one bright spot is Green, who's still 22. Here are his stats: https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_ ... heem-green. He's a third rounder on a 3.5M, four-year deal expiring in 2024. A couple more signings like that and we'll be in biz, but until then our pass rush is dependent on Clowney.

I share your concerns, but don't see how we get out of paying him.

Pay him what he's worth, and either sign a guy like Dante Fowler or find a young stud in the draft. The main thing is, they need someone to pair with Clowney.

Clowney's a great run stuffer who can also get to the QB, but he can't be the only threat. As it was last season, it was too easy of a decision to have opposing players double-team Clowney, having more than one playmaker eliminates that problem. Clowney is the new Bennett, now they need to find their Avril.

He’s the only consistent pass rush we have so yes.

I think it fits with Pete and John like to do, reward players who give their all for the team. Players who are young and you can build around. Ideally he won't be chasing Mack Donald type money but I figure he'll slot right around Clark which I think is fair. I'd rather have him than Frank with all due respect to Clark. I think you build around Clowney, while Franks a nice finishing piece not a cornerstone. If he starts trying to exceed Mack money then I think you gotta be realistic and be ready to walk.

Pay him but never said The Highest Dollar..

Yea, pay him. The odds that'll he'll perform at a high level in the next few years are high. The odds of drafting a player as good as him...very slim.
We need another quality DE on the other side who we'll pay as well.

We have to play Clowney. He is our only real pass rusher rn that is consistent. He is only 26 so I can see them building around him. He gave us his all this year and played thru a hell of an injury for us too. I don't know if he'll command 20mil/year but he will definitely be in the 15-20mil a year price range. I'm hoping hes willing to take a bit less money to help us go get more people to contend like he wants. Just my hope, probably not gonna happen in reality though.

That being said with the amount of cap space we have we should be looking at a free agent RT too. There are some really good ones that are set to hit free agency atm. We just have to see who actually makes it there. I don't think we will be able to get a day one starter in the draft and that is 1 of 3 highest needs for our team. The other is resigning Clowney and getting a LCB in the draft or free agent cause Tre Flowers is ABSOLUTE TRASH.

I really, really want CLowney signed, BUT there is NO one player worth breaking your bank for. Football is a team game and a team of second raters will beat the one man team every time. Work a deal that is good for both parties and lets get on with getting better. We NEED a solid corner and at least one more solid DE for our D, assuming we can resign our interior guys.
We also need some serious consideration on our O Line and another RB. Can't do all that by overpaying one guy.

Appyhawk":qd41ak7d said:

I really, really want CLowney signed, BUT there is NO one player worth breaking your bank for. Football is a team game and a team of second raters will beat the one man team every time. Work a deal that is good for both parties and lets get on with getting better. We NEED a solid corner and at least one more solid DE for our D, assuming we can resign our interior guys.
We also need some serious consideration on our O Line and another RB. Can't do all that by overpaying one guy.

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One way to do that is to trade down for picks. A No. 27 in a thin EDGE draft doesn't mean you're getting a Bosa or a Chase Young just because they're both first-rounders. It means you're sifting through leftovers so you can pay someone $10M even though he's a defacto second-rounder for most teams. That's already half of what we're assuming Clowney wants for someone who hasn't produced. That's three third-rounders with multiple chances.

I'd love Clowney to stay but he's not worth the money that he'll ask for. He would be if he could produce the 49ers game 6 or 7 times a season but he didn't, he was amazing in just one game which isn't enough for the sort of money he wants. He isn't going to dominate the league like Donald did last year or Mack did shortly after moving to Chicago, so how can you justify paying him the same? Considering a guy like Vic Beasley would cost less, I'd rather go with someone like that and with the extra money saved, put that towards replacing Iupati with Brandon Scherff or some other major signing in a position that is certainly going to be an improvement.

flmmkrz":3oh6zslk said:

I think it fits with Pete and John like to do, reward players who give their all for the team. Players who are young and you can build around. Ideally he won't be chasing Mack Donald type money but I figure he'll slot right around Clark which I think is fair. I'd rather have him than Frank with all due respect to Clark. I think you build around Clowney, while Franks a nice finishing piece not a cornerstone. If he starts trying to exceed Mack money then I think you gotta be realistic and be ready to walk.

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^This explains about where I'm at^

Everything considered, he's pretty hard to replace.

Another thing: Clowney's supposed to have surgery for a "core injury" in the offseason. I know teams aren't allowed to mandate that people rehab on site prior to OTAs, so unless Clowney himself divulges medical info to staff, IDK how we're supposed to know how to weigh that risk versus potential reward, especially as "core" is itself an ambiguous term.

If he's not divulging info prior to the contract negotiations, that's a bad sign.

Clowney is a unique individual when it comes to DEs, but at the age of 26 and given his history of injurys I'd say if he won't play to a lower cost with insentives then he'd get a big ol pass from me. We need players that are dependable and consistent all season long. Plus we can gingle the change in our pockets.

I wonder whether a two-tier offer is the way to go.

Let's say Clowney's offered $12M guaranteed. He plays three years for a total of 17M in mostly performance based incentives. Or maybe four years for $25M given these same incentives. That to me would be fair to both.

12AngryHawks":30q8qywi said:

Pay him what he's worth, and either sign a guy like Dante Fowler or find a young stud in the draft. The main thing is, they need someone to pair with Clowney.

Clowney's a great run stuffer who can also get to the QB, but he can't be the only threat. As it was last season, it was too easy of a decision to have opposing players double-team Clowney, having more than one playmaker eliminates that problem. Clowney is the new Bennett, now they need to find their Avril.

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This is the correct answer.

Clowney + a legit Leo = YES PLEASE!