Seahawks Signing Greg Olsen Was a Dumb Move That Could Cost Them Jadeveon Clowney

Prior to the start of the new NFL league year, many teams franchise- or transition-tagged their best players heading towards free agency. With many of the top players off the market, the best remaining was edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.

We're now six days into free agency and Clowney still remains unsigned due to teams being hesitant about spending $20 million per year on an oft-injured pass rusher. As a result, his price tag dropping, which could have favored the Seattle Seahawks in re-signing him, but now it looks like the dumb contract they gave Greg Olsen, who has played in a grand total of 30 games over the past three seasons, could hinder them financially.

Latest I'm hearing: #Seahawks have kept multi-year deal on the table for Clowney, hoping talks will accelerate quickly and deal could be knocked out as soon as this afternoon.

But guaranteed money remains sticking point that could stall negotiations.https://t.co/PWhFYDLEoF
— Corbin Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) March 21, 2020

Reports have indicated that the Seahawks and Clowney were progressing towards a deal this weekend, but it appeared to be more of a ploy from the former first overall pick's camp to drive up the price.

Signing Clowney is difficult for the Seahawks, especially when you see that they have approximately $18 million in cap space. When you look at Seattle's cap situation, you see that the Olsen takes up about $6.9 million of the payroll, which puts the Hawks in a bad spot in terms of bringing Clowney back.

This Jadeveon Clowney & #Seahawks talk has gotten confusing...

Let’s hear your thoughts: Does he resign with the Seahawks or not? ? pic.twitter.com/LKdriZesEB
— Sports ON Tap Seattle (@SONTSeattle) March 22, 2020

The last time Olsen had a 1,000-plus receiving yard season was back in 2016. He was never able to replicate his prime years due to a nagging foot injury.

We get it, the Seahawks added Olsen to give quarterback Russell Wilson another target on offense, but the team still has Will Dissly, Luke Willson and Jacob Hollister, which makes the signing even more of a head-scratcher, especially with the potential Hollister displayed in 2019.

The Seahawks may have signed Greg Olsen and tendered Jacob Hollister, but that doesn't mean there isn't still room for Luke Willson in the tight end room. https://t.co/4cr87Ylpvc
— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) March 18, 2020

One of Seattle's weaker spots is on the defensive line. While Clowney never posted double-digit sacks in a season and has some durability issues, his regressing market could've made this reunion a lot easier.

If the Seahawks screw themselves out of Clowney because they decided to add a fading FOURTH tight end to their roster, it'll be one of the bigger blunders we've seen in a while.