The New Orleans Saints were willing to pull out all the stops to acquire Jadeveon Clowney, but apparently even a sign-and-trade would not have been enough for them to land the star defensive lineman.
Before Clowney signed with the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, the Saints tried to maneuver around the salary cap by getting a second team involved — believed to be the Cleveland Browns. The idea would have been to have the Browns sign Clowney, eat a portion of the contract, and then trade him to New Orleans for a second-round pick. Because the deal would have constituted circumventing the salary cap, the NFL did not allow it.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Clowney still would not have ended up in New Orleans even if the NFL approved the sign-and-trade. The Ravens and Jaguars had already approached the league about the same type of deal, where Jacksonville would sign Clowney and then trade him to Baltimore. If the deal was approved, it would have been the Ravens — not the Saints — who pulled it off first.
Many people have criticized the NFL for allowing teams to circumvent the salary cap, and that is true in some instances. However, it clearly works in certain situations as we saw with the Clowney sweepstakes.
Clowney ended up signing a one-year, $13 million deal with the Titans that could be worth up to $15 million with incentives. Given the way things played out, you have to wonder if he regrets taking the advice he was given.
