Jadeveon Clowney
Grant Halverson/Getty
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 01: Jadeveon Clowney #7 of the Carolina Panthers runs onto the field during player introductions prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium on December 01, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
Veteran free agent edge defender Jadeveon Clowney took a visit with the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday. No deal has been signed yet, which raised some eyebrows, as the Cowboys need some pass rush help and Clowney is still looking for his next team.
Now, thanks to Cowboys insider Bryan Broaddus, we have some details on why the signing isn’t official yet. Per Broaddus, Dallas was ready to sign on the dotted line, but Clowney would rather wait and explore his options.
“Cowboys wanted to sign Clowney. They absolutely did. Clowney’s the one [who] made this decision. He said he would like to wait,” Broaddus said on Thursday. “Yeah, the intent was to sign him up. Clowney is the one who decided that he would like to wait before that happens,” he added.
Broaddus on Whether the Dallas Cowboys Could Still Sign Jadeveon Clowney
Jadeveon Clowney
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 24: Jadeveon Clowney #7 and DeShawn Williams #75 of the Carolina Panthers sacks Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Bank of America Stadium on November 24, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Matt Kelley/Getty Images)
“Yeah, we were kind of asking the questions of, ‘Why would they do this?’ or ‘Why would they do that?’ and, ‘Did it come down to — was it money, was it something, what was getting in the way or potentially doing this?'”
“It sounds like to me,” Broaddus said, “the Cowboys said, ‘Hey we would like to…yeah let’s do something here,’ and then he just told them that, ‘I’m gonna wait a little bit and kind of figure some things out and I’ll get back to you.'”
“It’s him. It’s not the Cowboys. I mean, obviously, they’re on board,” Broaddus said on whether the Cowboys would still want to sign him in the future. “Yeah, it’s the player that made this decision. Now, we’ll see what happens with the Cowboys. They may get to a point where they’re like, ‘Nah, we’re good. Some of our guys are playing a little bit better and we’ll just keep going forward there.’ But yeah, this one’s on the player.”
Dallas Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus on the Jadeveon Clowney Visit
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus spoke to reports on Thursday, discussing injury updates and the week’s practices. Unprompted, he spoke on the Clowney visit as part of his opening remarks.
“And then the Clowney visit — you know, anytime we can look at players,” Eberflus said. “But we do feel great about our defensive line depth, but pass rushers are hard to find, and we’re always going to look at that. I don’t have any updates on where that is right now, but we’ll probably have some updates here in the near future on if or when, or not. So we’ll see with that.”
Without their former star in Micah Parsons, the Dallas pass rush struggled in their Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Second-round rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku made a minimal impact in his first game, and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was largely unaffected by pressure throughout the evening. The team was hoping to bring in Clowney to help rectify that.
For now, at least, they’ll have to press on without him.