There are still a few veterans with some name recognition left on the free-agent market, tempting teams that get itchy for a quick fix to an emergent roster problem.
Jadeveon Clowney is one of those veterans, and experts have linked him to the Green Bay Packers as a good fit for a team in need of pass-rush help. But instead of investing in the veteran, the Packers would be wise to let the young guys get those reps.
Even at the age of 33, Clowney is no slouch. The 2014 No. 1-overall draft pick racked up 8.5 sacks in 13 games played across six starts last season with the Dallas Cowboys. Clowney didn’t play the volume of snaps he was accustomed to during the prime of his career. However, he was out there for 44% of the defensive snaps for the Cowboys. And the lower snap count makes his sack total of 8.5 that much more impressive.
Still, is Clowney the type of difference-maker who could take Green Bay’s edge-rusher group to a completely different level in the absence of Micah Parsons? Unlikely. Given that answer, why not give the young guys a run now and see what you have?
The Packers invested a fourth-round pick in Barryn Sorrell last year and followed that up in Round 5 by taking Collin Oliver, another edge rusher.
Oliver spent most of his rookie campaign on the shelf, while Sorrell didn’t have many opportunities in a log-jammed room of edge rushers. Neither were premier picks, but they weren’t late-round fliers either.
The same goes for Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton, whom the Packers selected this year in the fourth round. The main difference in this case was that Green Bay didn’t have a first-round pick, and Dennis-Sutton was the third player they selected, which may have given him both greater priority and greater urgency.
The Packers can’t be sure yet what that young trio can accomplish. There’s a balancing act to be done between team building and the pursuit of a championship. However, for better or worse, early in the season will be the best time to evaluate the talent on the edge.
Yes, it’s a bit of a gamble, but Clowney is no surefire jackpot.
His numbers were impressive for a 32-year-old player. It’s not wildly unreasonable to expect him to meet the standard again, and to be healthy exactly when they need him to be. Still, even if that bet pays off, it comes with an opportunity cost, taking away reps from the three edge rushers drafted in the last two years.
And then there’s Lukas Van Ness.
Green Bay’s 2023 first-round pick remains a frustrating mystery. The former Iowa Hawkeye will have a clear stage to start this season. This season could be the pivot point in his career on multiple fronts.
It’s a bit of a paradox. It would be harder to answer the questions about the edge-rushing group with Clowney in the mix. Still, that degree of uncertainty is what makes him a tantalizing prospect in the first place.
It’s also possible that Clowney spends training camp on the couch and gets snapped up by a team that suffers some bad injury luck later in the summer or in the first couple weeks of the season. He showed last season that he still has gas left in the tank and can be impactful in limited usage, so somebody will almost certainly take him at some point. Yet it’s already July, and he’s still a free agent.
If Green Bay starts camp or rolls into the preseason and is truly worried about the progress of Sorrell, Oliver, and Dennis-Sutton, sure, go crazy and bring in Clowney if he’s still available.
For now, though, the plan should be to let the young guns loose and see who can run with what should be an abundant opportunity with Parsons on the sideline.
