If the Green Bay Packers had used a top pick to select an edge defender, it wouldn’t be a surprise. They didn’t, though, not at least taking Barryn Sorrell in the fourth round. So even though the Packers don’t see defensive end as a need, it doesn’t mean they can’t add another piece to the room.
Now, a significant market opportunity has arisen. The Carolina Panthers decided to release edge defender Jadeveon Clowney, the former first overall pick who has made the Pro Bowl three times in his career.
“You’re always looking. With pass rushers, you can never have enough,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the season. “I thought there were times this year we did that, we were able to rush with four men. Every team in the league, that’s how you’d prefer to do it, rush with four and affect the quarterback with four. There were periods of times where we didn’t do that well enough, everybody understands that. That affects your football team.”
At 32, Clowney has been the ultimate mercenary edge rusher. Since being traded from the Houston Texans in 2019, he has played for the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and Carolina Panthers. It’s been one season for each, except Cleveland, where he spent two years. He made the Pro Bowl three consecutive years, between 2016 and 2018, and made the Second-Team All-Pro in 2016 as a member of the Texans—the team which drafted him in 2014.
Throughout his NFL career, Jadeveon Clowney established himself as an elite run defender, even though his productivity as a pass rusher hasn’t been what you would expect from a first overall pick.
He had some prolific years as a pass rusher—most recently, with 9.5 sacks for the Ravens in 2023. Last season, the Panthers gave him a two-year, $20 million contract, and had 5.5 sacks and 46 total tackles in Charlotte.
However, he became expendable after the Panthers drafted Nic Scourton in the second round and Princely Umanmielen in the third, in addition to signing former Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Patrick Jones II in free agency.
Packers fit
Clowney is 6-5, 266 pounds, so he has the physical profile the Packers tend to like. Even though he is not exactly known for his pass rush productivity, Clowney generated 44 pressures last season—just three fewer than Rashan Gary, who led the Packers in 2024.
The defensive end room in Green Bay has Gary, former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox Jr., Arron Mosby, Deslin Alexandre, and Jeremiah Martin. Fifth-round pick Collin Oliver will also start his career in the DE room, even though he has the flexibility to move to off-ball linebacker.
