Why it makes sense for Cowboys to 'kick tires' on ex-No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney

FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys defense put up a strong, second-half showing in their 24-20 Week 1 loss at the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles. 

However, it wasn't enough to earn a victory, which is one of the reasons why the Cowboys brought in three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney for a visit on Wednesday. Clowney, the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, overlapped one season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019 with current Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who served as Seattle's offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2020. 

"This is something we've been monitoring with every position. Again, I feel great about our defensive line depth, but anytime you have a chance to, potentially, add good football players why wouldn't you kick the tires?" Schottenheimer said Wednesday.

Schottenheimer explained the Cowboys are "just doing our homework" on Clowney, but he provided a direct answer on why Dallas is digging into the potential of signing the 32-year-old edge rusher. Dallas invited him to watch Wednesday afternoon's practice as part of the visit. 

"I would say the personal relationship with him and the problems he can cause in the pass game and run game," Schottenheimer said. ... "[I remember] How disruptive he can be. He's really good against the run and the pass. He's a violent player that plays the game the right way. I love his length, but it was really good just to catch up with him. He's a dad now, got a couple of kids. He's been coaching his son's football team. I think that's cool to see these guys when they grow up and start having families."

Here's why the Cowboys are looking into this acquisition and why it could make sense. They allowed just three points and 35 yards rushing in the second half on Thursday. Dallas did well slowing down Eagles running back Saquon Barkley with the addition of three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark, but much of the 158 total rushing yards Dallas allowed overall came in the first half and from scrambles by Super Bowl LIX MVP quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts led Philadelphia with 62 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 14 carries, 9 of which were on scrambles after evading pressure from the Cowboys' pass rush. 

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Dallas did generate enough pressure to flush Hurts out of the pocket with their 42.4% quarterback pressure rate, the fifth-best of any team in Week 1, but the absence of All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons, now with the Green Bay Packers, and his finishing ability allowed Hurts to get free for most of his yards and both of his touchdowns while scrambling. His seven rushing first downs were tied for the most in the NFL by any player along with New York Jets running back Breece Hall. 

Adding Clowney could help Dallas' young group of edge rushers enhance their ability to finish for sacks and tackles for loss. Clowney registered a 14.9% pass rush win rate while playing for a 5-12 Carolina Panthers team that spent the fifth-most time trailing (9:25:40) in the NFL in 2024. Pretty impressive that Clowney finished 20th in pass rush win rate among edge rushers with at least 125 pass rush snaps in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. 

"There's value in being a vet and value in the experience that they have and some of the technique stuff that they've learned over the years and it's funny talking to Jadeveon, I was asking him, 'okay what's your go to move?' So he was sharing some of his secrets and just to hear these guys that are vets talk about in detail, like the different moves, the swim, the long arm and stuff like that, it's fascinating," Schottenheimer said. Here's a guy when he first came into the league that he just went out and played and now as you get a little older, it's just like me getting out of bed in the morning a little bit, you have to think about more what you want to do and how you want to do it. But in terms of young players, this doesn't, if we do it, this does not stop the progress. We need to play all these guys and you can add veterans and not stop progress of young guys. Its all about the rep count."

Cowboys defensive line vs. Eagles

• DE Sam Williams (26-years-old): five quarterback pressures, no sacks
• DT Osa Odighizuwa (27-years-old): four quarterback pressures, no sacks
• DE Dante Fowler Jr. (31-years-old): three quarterback pressures, no sacks
• DT Solomon Thomas (29-years-old): two quarterback pressures, no sacks
• DE Marshawn Kneeland (24-years-old): one quarterback pressure, one sack
• DE Donovan Ezeiruaku (21-years-old): one quarterback pressure, no sacks 

So will Dallas pull the trigger and bring Clowney into the fold? They do have the money available: their $37.552 million in cap space ranks as the second-most in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.com. 

"Just evaluating. He's still got a few more things to do with us, and then we'll circle up, probably after practice, and just kind of see where we're at," Schottenheimer said. "He's a free agent, so he has choices as well.  Just kind of have a meeting of the minds and see if it makes sense for us."