The Dallas Cowboys’ defensive end room has been hushed without Micah Parsons. While that isn’t overly surprising, fans expected a lot more from Dante Fowler and Sam Williams, which prompted the front office to sign Jadeveon Clowney to a one-year deal.
Clowney is arguably the best EDGE on the team right now. The hope is that rookie second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku eventually takes the torch, but he’s still learning how to win in the NFL. That says more about the room than it does about Clowney, who remains a solid player at 32
While fans shouldn’t expect Clowney to be a world-beater, he is an excellent signing, and one that several teams would’ve liked to make. Dan Quinn and the Commanders clearly fit that bill, as they signed fellow vet Preston Smith after losing Deatrich Wise for the year with a quad injury.
Commanders counter Cowboys’ Jadeveon Clowney move by signing Preston Smith
The Commanders must be aware that they have the oldest roster in football, and yet they clearly don’t care to get any younger.
Smith will turn 33 in November, and he managed just 18 pressures in 17 games between the Packers and Steelers last season. He ranked 66th out of 77 qualified edge defenders with an 8.2 percent pass-rush win rate, 75th with 12 hurries, and 52nd with a 64.7 pass-rush grade, per Pro Football Focus.
Clowney, meanwhile, racked up 44 pressures with the Panthers last year. He finished 14th among EDGEs with a 14.9 percent pass-rush win rate. That was a better mark than Nick Bonitto, T.J. Watt, and Maxx Crosby. Clowney also ranked 31st with 33 hurries and 25th with a 73.2 pass-rush grade. He ran laps around Smith across the board, and he is a markedly better run defender.
Wise was third among Washington’s edge defenders in pass-rush snaps before his injury. That likely means Smith will slot in behind Dorance Armstrong and 36-year-old Von Miller. Armstrong leads the Commanders with 11 pressures through two games. Miller is next at the EDGE position with four pressures.
Signing Smith reeks of desperation from Dan Quinn and the Commanders. Doubling down on their aging-player philosophy is baffling when it’s already clear just two weeks in that they badly need to get younger.
Cowboys fans didn’t need a reason to feel better about signing Clowney, but this definitely does the trick.
