The Saints made one final attempt to land Star Pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney late Saturday. They got creative and tried to make what is considered the first of its kind in NFL history – but couldn’t get final clearance from the league.
The Saints were working with another team on a unique sign-and-trade deal that would have dealt with salary caps to get the free agent Clowney to New Orleans. But talks fell apart about the NFL’s willingness to approve such a deal, and Clowney finally agreed to a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans late Saturday night.
According to sources informed of the talks, the Saints did not feel they could financially compete with the Titans’ offer for budgetary reasons – $ 12 million plus $ 3 million in incentives. So they reached out to another team for a workaround. (Sources have not confirmed the other team, hereinafter referred to as “Team X,” but it is believed to be the Cleveland Browns, who have ample space and a front office to accommodate his inclination to Creativity is known to be exhibited in her 2016 trade for quarterback Brock Osweiler.)
The sides discussed the parameters of a deal where Team X Clowney would have signed a $ 15 million one-year contract and paid him a $ 5 million signing bonus. Then Team X would have immediately sold Clowney to the Saints, who would have sent Team X a second round draft pick, as well as a player who would take New Orleans extra salary off the books. The Saints would have paid Clowney’s remaining salary of $ 10 million.
Just one problem: the teams learned late Saturday that the NFL was unlikely to approve such a deal.
Other teams have historically paid essentially cash for picks, including the Browns, who agreed to take on Osweiler’s $ 16 million guaranteed salary in a deal that earned them a second-round draft pick. Last year the Dolphins paid Ryan Tannehill a $ 5 million signing bonus on a restructured contract to send him to the Titans. And Clowney himself received a $ 7 million signing bonus from the Texans last August to make a deal in Seattle.
But several executives from different NFL teams said they couldn’t remember any other team going through such a deal with a freelance agent who was literally signed just to trade with him. One manager summarized the interpretation of the league’s statutes as follows: “In principle, you cannot trade in cash.”
The Saints have long been willing to convert large base salaries into signing bonuses or extend contracts for invalid years to free up short-term cap space. However, given the projected multi-billion dollar decline in sales from COVID-19, which could cause it to drop from $ 198.2 million per club in 2020 to just $ 175 million in 2020, there is a big one Uncertainty about the wage cap for 2021. According to the NFL Players Association, the Saints made cuts of over $ 260 million for 2021 this weekend.
The Saints continued to try to revise their offer until late Saturday night, but without help, they could not fulfill the Titan’s offer. And after 5½ months in the free agent market, Clowney decided to go to Tennessee instead.
