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Everyone is thrashing deep within the jungles of June. It’s hot dog time. The bathtubs are filled with mosquitos and sunscreen. Mandatory minicamps and training camps are quickly approaching. And once again, the Texans still haven’t extended Jadeveon Clowney.
As you probably figured, Adam Schefter reported Clowney is not expected to attend the Texans’ mandatory minicamp. This isn’t shocking. It’s what we thought would happen. But now it has been officially reported.
Texans mandatory minicamp starts Tuesday, but as their unsigned franchise player, Jadeveon Clowney is not expected to attend.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 10, 2019
Worse yet, Lance Zierlein, the man who writes the NFL.com draft write ups, and hosts a Houston sports talk show in Houston, posted the following:
I had NFL teams tell me that Jadeveon Clowney was on the trade market during draft week which is not a surprise after the trade haul landed by Seattle for Frank Clark. It's hard to imagine a scenario where the Texans give Clowney a ton of guaranteed money with this knowledge.
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) June 11, 2019
Hopefully this was all Brian Gaine. Hopefully the new general manager will make extending Clowney a priority. The Texans aren’t better off trading Clowney; they would be forfeiting this season if they did. J.J. Watt can’t carry the defense on his own and the Texans rely on both players. Clowney is entering the prime of his career, and he is the bridge for Houston to build around once Watt stops producing ridiculous seasons. Hopefully the new general manager pays Clowney the four years and $100 million, or whatever he wants, and pays him like a top defensive end, which he is.
Making sure Clowney is available in training camp is instrumental to this season too. After missing camp last season, it took Clowney three weeks to get going. Houston started 0-3 until he and Watt had a crazy game against Indy in Week Four. This season, against this schedule, Houston can’t start slow again. They need Clowney, and they need him to produce right away.
I’m excited for the future day when Clowney is extended by the new general manager. When this tension, this uncertainty, is washed away, we can look at the past and just laugh and laugh and laugh. Until then, we’ll toil some more.