Making a last dash late Saturday night to get Jadevon Clowney’s stellar throw, the Saints have been resourceful in attempting what is considered the first of its kind in NFL history, but failed to get the league’s final clearance.
The Saints worked with a different team on a unique subscription and trade deal that would bypass salary restrictions and get free agent Clowney to New Orleans. But negotiations collapsed due to the NFL’s willingness to approve such a deal, and Clown ended up agreeing to a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans late Saturday night.
According to sources informed about the talks, the Saints did not feel they could financially compete with the Titans’ offer – $ 12 million plus $ 3 million in benefits – due to budgetary reasons. So they turned to another team to find a workaround. (Sources have not confirmed another team, hereafter referred to as “Team X”, but it is believed to be the Cleveland Browns, who have ample headroom and a front office known for their creative penchant, which is particularly remembered in their exchange for quarterback Brock Osweiler in 2016.)
The parties discussed the parameters of the deal, in which Team X would sign a one-year contract for $ 15 million with Clowney and pay him a signing bonus of $ 5 million. Then Team X would immediately trade the Clownies for the Saints, who would send Team X the pick in the second round of the draft, as well as a player who would take extra pay from New Orleans’ ledgers. The Saints would pay Clowoney’s remaining $ 10 million salary.
Just one problem: late Saturday night, teams received word that the NFL was unlikely to approve of such a deal.
Other teams have essentially paid cash for picks in the past, including the Browns, who agreed to take on Osweiler’s $ 16 million guaranteed salary in a deal that earned them round two picks. Last year, the Dolphins paid Ryan Tannehill a $ 5 million signing bonus on a restructured contract to ship him to the Titans. And Clown himself received a $ 7 million subscription bonus from Texans last August to help close the Seattle deal.
But several executives from various NFL teams said they could not recall any other team making such a deal involving a free agent who was signed literally just to trade him. One executive summarized his interpretation of the league’s charter as follows: “Basically, you can’t trade cash.”
The Saints have long been willing to convert large base salaries into signature bonuses or add years to contracts that can be canceled to make room for a short-term cap. But there is a lot of uncertainty about the 2021 wage cap, given the projected multibillion-dollar COVID-19 revenue shortfall that could drop from $ 198.2 million per club in 2020 to just $ 175 million. The Saints had more than $ 260 million in commitments for 2021, according to reports from the NFL Players’ Association, with cuts this weekend.
The Saints continued to try to finalize their proposal until late Saturday, but without help they could not match the Titans’ proposal. And after five and a half months in the free agency market, Clown decided to head to Tennessee instead.
