The Houston Texans placed the franchise tag on edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney Monday, and it was a move that was out of necessity more than anything else.
The Texans are part of a confraternity of teams that are in a very unique situation in that they have a premier pass rusher but also rookie contracts for explosive young talent that is about to expire. The Kansas City Chiefs have Dee Ford that they can’t figure out what to do with, and it’s because of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Dallas Cowboys are in the same situation for a myriad of reasons, but the long and short of their tag situation with DeMarcus Lawrence involves quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott’s rookie deals being up in two seasons.
Enter Houston. Their biggest contract they have to worry about is quarterback Deshaun Watson. Even though Watson’s rookie deal won’t be up in 2021, fifth-year option included, the Texans have to consider how Clowney’s long-term deal is going to affect their attempts to re-sign Watson. In other words, the Texans don’t want the Clowney deal to put the franchise into salary cap hell as they shell out the big bucks to keep Watson.
The Texans have until July 15 at 3:00 p.m. Central Time to figure out how to give Clowney an equitable contract without compromising the team’s ability to stay competitive. After that, Clowney will play under the franchise tag and the two sides can’t negotiate until after the regular season.
The good thing about “tagging” Clowney is now the Texans can focus on bringing back safety Tyrann Mathieu and also being “selectively aggressive” in free agency.
