The Seahawks were both the team best positioned to trade for Jadeveon Clowney and the one that needed him most.
They made the acquisition of the former Texans edge pass-rusher a reality with their shrewd trade for him during NFL final roster cuts on Saturday. Houston was set to part ways with Clowney ever since he was disappointed to be franchise-tagged as a defensive end/outside linebacker for 2019.
The other teams most in the mix for Clowney were the Dolphins, who seemingly didn't offer enough, and the Eagles, who would have had a hard time fitting Clowney under their tight salary cap.
In the end, Clowney arrives at a happy medium; he's going to a 2018 playoff team that has the cap room to get him a desired long-term deal. Here's analyzing how his new and former teams did in the deal.
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Jadeveon Clowney trade grades
Seahawks get: Clowney
Texans get: 2020 third-round draft pick, edge LB Barkevious Mingo and LB Jacob Martin
Seahawks: A
The Seahawks traded Frank Clark to the Chiefs and drafted L.J. Collier in the first round to help replace his pass-rush production, but they lacked an established edge producer, with journeyman Cassius Marsh and injury-riddled former Lions starter Ziggy Ansah as the next best options. They had to go for Clowney, who can be an excellent hybrid player in their 3-4, boosting their run defense as much as their ability to get to the quarterback
Mingo was going to be only the Seahawks' sub-package rusher on passing downs. Now Marsh and Ansah drop to more comfortable spots in the line rotation. Coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. can use Clowney's versatility to Seattle's full advantage, either as a traditional end or a scheme- and rush-specific "LEO" end.
There will be a high monetary cost to locking up Clowney, but parting with limited player compensation beyond Mingo makes this a great late preseason coup.
MORE: LeSean McCoy headlines list of surprising NFL cuts
Texans: F
This is what happens when a team goes through a key part of the summer without a real general manager. Brian Gaine was fired on June 7 and the promotion of salary-cap manager Chris Olsen to interim GM didn't help with the Clowney negotations.
Bill O'Brien tried to extend himself from head coach to personnel decider, and however it went down with Olsen, the team got fleeced here. Luckily, to overcome this limited return for Clowney and the lack of immediate offensive line help, they made amends in a separate deal to acquire left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Dolphins.
In this particular deal, however, Houston was stuck needing to move Clowney for something and ended up getting close to nothing. That extra third-rounder better be a home run, because in the short term, the Texans struck out.
