The Carolina Panthers are in need of a pass rusher after trading Brian Burns, and they may find their answer in free-agent star Jadeveon Clowney.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL media, Clowney is expected to meet with the Panthers this week. Garafolo adds that there are other teams interested in Clowney, including the Baltimore Ravens, with whom Clowney spent the 2023 campaign.
Clowney enjoyed a solid bounceback year this past season, playing in every game and racking up 43 tackles, 9.5 sacks, a couple of forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and five passes defended.
The 31-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of South Carolina, was originally selected by the Houston Texans with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Injuries limited him to just four games during his rookie campaign, and the following year, he recorded a pedestrian 40 tackles, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and six passes defended in 13 contests.
Clowney finally began to show signs of breaking through in 2016, when he registered 52 tackles, six sacks and a forced fumble en route to a Pro Bowl appearance and a Second-Team All-Pro selection.
The Rock Hill, S.C. native proceeded to land three straight trips to the Pro Bowl between 2016 and 2018, with his best season during that stretch coming in 2017 when he rattled off 59 tackles, 9.5 sacks, a pair of forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a defensive touchdown.
Clowney spent the first five years of his career with the Texans before linking up with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019, where he was a major disappointment. He played just one season there, logging 31 tackles and three sacks in 13 games.
Since then, Clowney has played for the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and, most recently, the Ravens.
The veteran has sort of been an every-other-year player the last several seasons, posting nine or more sacks twice over the last four years. In those other two seasons, he totaled two sacks.
We’ll see where Jadeveon Clowney ends up in the coming days.
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