Jadeveon Clowney Trade Rumors: Star's Days 'Numbered' with Texans; HOU Wants WR

Jadeveon Clowney isn't long for Houston, it appears.

The Athletic's Michael Lombardi appeared on SiriusXM Radio on Saturday and said he believes the Houston Texans will trade the 2014 top overall pick "within the next 24, 48 hours":

"He doesn't have a contract, so he's gotta sign the tender before they trade him. I think that's almost a fait accompli. He will get traded within the next 24, 48 hours. I would be shocked if he didn't. There's a lot of teams that are after him. The Houston Texans, they want a receiver. They want another receiver to go with [DeAndre] Hopkins.

"So, I think there's teams. I know there's two teams negotiating with Clowney right now, in terms of trying to talk to him about coming to their team because he's gotta sign the tender before [Houston] can trade him. He does have some control of the action, but Clowney's days as a Houston Texan, to me, are numbered."

Clowney was not given a new long-term contract prior to the July 15 deadline to sign players who received the franchise tag. As Lombardi noted, the 26-year-old has yet to sign his franchise tender, worth $16.0 million this season.

Last year, Clowney registered nine sacks and 47 tackles (38 solo) across 15 games.

After a four-game rookie campaign shortened by an injured right knee that necessitated surgery, Clowney has played no fewer than 13 regular-season games since 2015. The three-time Pro Bowler has 29 career sacks, 67 quarterback hits and 205 tackles (151 solo) across 62 contests (55 starts).

On Aug. 13, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle tweeted he'd be "surprised" if the Texans kept Clowney and noted they needed to upgrade at left tackle "to protect Deshaun Watson." The 23-year-old quarterback was sacked 62 times last season, which led the NFL. Houston used its 2019 first-round pick and a second-rounder on offensive tackles Tytus Howard and Max Scharping.

The Texans also need reinforcements at receiver. Outside of the two-time All-Pro Hopkins, Will Fuller V is Houston's next-best receiver but has had injury issues. Fuller missed all but seven games last season with a torn ACL. He is expected to be ready for Week 1.

As for potential landing spots for Clowney, Lombardi didn't specify the teams he was referring to.

ESPN's Rich Cimini, however, reported New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas tiptoed around "a camouflaged Jadeveon Clowney question:"

On Thursday, Pro Football Focus' Evan McPhillips speculated the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders could be trade partners and added:

"Clowney's calling card since coming to the NFL has been his exceptional ability to defend the run. What may surprise you is just how good he has been against the run when compared to his peers. All told, 47.2% of Jadeveon Clowney's career run tackles have been for a loss of yardage or no gain. This is second only to Michael Bennett (53.7%) among the 94 edge defenders with at least 500 run-defense snaps since 2014. ...

"Clowney has earned a run-defense grade of 80.0 or higher in each of his last four seasons, and he earned a career-high run-defense grade of 91.8 last season, which was the second-best mark among edge defenders."

Even with what Clowney brings to the table, he is less appealing to teams because he isn't eligible to sign a long-term deal until he becomes an unrestricted free agent next year.