The Road Goes On Forever And The Jadeveon Clowney Trade Rumors Never End

I have good news and bad this on this first College Football Saturday of the year. Good news first—those of you who think the Texans would be idiots to send Jadeveon Clowney and a first round pick (and perhaps more than that) to Miami for Laremy Tunsil, or something besides Laremy Tunsil, will be pleased to know that Clowney has advised the Texans he will not agree to such a trade. Which, despite not technically being under contract and being able to invoke a no-trade clause is such a thing existed in his contract, Clowney can effectively do by refusing to sign his franchise tag tender.

If Clowney won’t sign his tender, the Texans can’t trade him to Miami, even if the Dolphins were willing to send Tunsil, Richmond Webb, Ricky Williams, Mark Duper, and a $1,000,000.00 gift certificate that can be redeemed at any Shula’s Steak House in the continental United States. By declining to sign the tender until he is assured of getting what he wants, whether it’s remaining with the Texans or a trade out of town to a team of his choosing, Clowney has leverage over the Texans.

Yes, Jadeveon Clowney, without an agent, has outWhataburgered the Texans. That’s shameful on a number of levels and simply the latest indictment of the Texans’ faux front office.

The bad news? As you know, Clowney has reportedly expressed a preference to be traded to the Seahawks or Eagles. Putting aside the extent of any salary cap gymnastics that would have to occur in Philadelphia or Seattle to make acquiring Clowney feasible, I sincerely question whether either team would be able to put together a package that should pique Houston’s interest. If the goal is to acquire a left tackle who could start for the Texans immediately, I’m not quite sure how that’d happen in any form via Seattle—what with Duane Brown being their starting left tackle—and I find it extremely improbable the Eagles would part with Andre Dillard or Jason Peters, the latter of whom is 37 years old and in no way could be considered a long-term solution for the Texans. If Clowney was in fact traded to Seattle or Philadelphia, I find it VERY hard to believe the return would be something that actually approached equal value for Houston. And yet, Duane Brown, a man who knows a thing or two about being traded from Houston to Seattle, tweeted this in the wee hours of the morning:

That may have absolutely nothing to do with Clowney. Or maybe it means the Seahawks are on the verge of acquiring this guy, with the Texans wearing “egg in their face as the league knows that the inmates are running the asylum” as this report out of Miami indicates:

I haven’t had a good feeling about how the Texans would fare in a Clowney trade since the rumblings reached a critical mass, and that feeling has only gotten worse the more that’s become public knowledge. I have almost zero confidence the Texans will get better in a trade that sees them parting with Clowney. What say you?

UPDATE: Tom Pelissero reports the Seahawks and Texans “are deep in talks” about Clowney.

UPDATE II: Jay Glazer is reporting the Texans and Seahawks have agreed to a trade involving Jadeveon Clowney.