Jadeveon Clowney Rumors: Trade Unlikely Despite Panthers Taking Calls Before Deadline

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVNovember 3, 2024

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

The Carolina Panthers are largely playing out the string on the 2024 season at this point, but that reportedly doesn’t mean they will trade pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney.

“Jadeveon Clowney has been a name that has been in discussions as well,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday (0:49 mark). “Several teams have called the Carolina Panthers about the veteran pass-rusher. However, my understanding is it’s more likely that Clowney stays in Carolina than he gets traded.”

Ian Rapoport @RapSheetThe Insiders on @NFLGameDay with @MikeGarafolo and @TomPelissero: A focus on the trade deadline, with a look at the edge market – Za’Darius Smith and Azeez Ojulari – and what WRs could get dealt. pic.twitter.com/VLSKr37of6

Clowney is signed through next season as well, so the Panthers could choose to keep him with the hope he helps inspire a turnaround in 2025.

Still, the 31-year-old seemed to be an obvious trade candidate from a struggling team that needs more draft picks and younger players to accelerate the timeline on an ongoing rebuild. Carolina is 1-7 on the season after going 2-15 in 2023.

There was a time when moving the pass-rusher would have been a major development.

He was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 NFL draft and made three straight Pro Bowls in his third, fourth and fifth seasons in the league. The South Carolina product has reached the nine-sack mark four different times in his career, including last season when he posted 9.5

Clowney has bounced around throughout his career and played for the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Panthers. Carolina surely hoped he would be the same type of player he was last year for the Ravens in 2024, but that has not proven to be the case.

He has just one sack in six games and has largely struggled to generate the same type of pressure he did earlier in his career.

Perhaps a change of scenery with a trade ahead of Tuesday’s deadline would have helped him rediscover his previous form, but it doesn’t seem like that will be the case.