The FA Pass Rusher Whom the Vikings Should Pursue
Losing Jonathan Greenard means losing some juice in the pass rush. Thankfully for Minnesota’s sake, the FA pass rusher talent isn’t totally without merit. Far from it, in fact.
Bringing in an assassin-for-hire to function on a single-season deal makes a ton of sense. Essentially, snag someone who can shine on 3rd down and when protecting a lead late (a situation where the opponent is passing plenty). Does a deal for veteran Jadeveon Clowney get across the finish line?
FA Pass Rusher Jadeveon Clowney as a Vikings Target
Mike Clay passed along a helpful list to clarify who remains within NFL free agency.
The cluster of edge rusher talent boasts many notable names. Cameron Jordan has had a fantastic career. Joey Bosa can be a ton to corral when he’s healthy. All of Haason Reddick, Leonard Floyd, Kyle Van Noy, and Von Miller have done well in their careers. Clowney, though, is the name that stands out among the group.
Chosen at No. 1 in the 2014 NFL Draft, Mr. Clowney had been around for a little while. His career began in Houston Texan before opportunities to become a Seahawk, Titan, Brown, Raven, Panther, and Cowboy. A basic takeaway is that he’s experienced, a detail that’s a touch more notable upon remembering that he has played in 3-4 defenses.
Last season, Clowney played for Dallas. He got into thirteen games, starting a half dozen. His final stats show 8.5 sacks, a spiffy number that would have led the Vikings last season (for curious readers, note that Turner finished in first with 8 sacks). So, too, do the stats show 41 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, and 4 passes defended.
There’s still some ability in the veteran.
His grades are still healthy. PFF sends over a 79.2 grade. His pass rush grade — 80.6 — is particularly impressive. There’s a risk in assuming that the easy-to-understand score on PFF gets the final word in analysis (it doesn’t and shouldn’t). It is, rather, just one way of assessing things, so note that PFF stepped away impressed.
Similarly notable is that Clowney played for modest money last season. His Cowboys cap charge sat at $3,450,000. The seasons prior are roughly in the same range. His high point over the past five seasons came at $6 million while the lowest came in at $2.5 million. Somewhere around $4 million seems about right.
As things stand, Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel are the top pass rushers in Minnesota. Keeping things rigid would mean uplifting options such as Tyler Batty, Bo Richter, Chaz Chambliss, and other young, unproven players as the next to get snaps. But, crucially, that’s not how the team operates.
Off-ball linebackers Jake Golday and Eric Wilson will get tasked with playing edge rusher. Brian Flores wants to create chaos. He does so most obviously through aggression but he also does so via disguise, surprise, and a cluster of players who can move all over the place.
Even with the help from the other linebackers, the Vikings would do well to add someone who is more proven for that EDGE3 job. Jadeveon Clowney, 34, stands at 6’5″ and 265 pounds.
Whoever gets added at this stage of the offseason won’t impact Minnesota’s hard-earned compensatory pick for the 2027 NFL Draft.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
