The Seattle Seahawks need a lot of help defensively. The team knows it won't have edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu for at least four games. Nwosu has missed the entire season except for one game, though. Seattle hopes to get Byron Murphy II back soon.
Those losses should be able to be overcome, though. Almost all losses should be, unless there are five or six players missing like Seattle had in Week 4 versus the Detroit Lions. Seattle simply hasn't gotten good enough play from those players who have been available. The Seahawks need an injection of talent.
They don't need to wait until the 2025 draft or next offseason's free agency to do so, either. They could make a move for a former Seattle defensive end who also happened to be a fantastically productive player for Mike Macdonald in 2023. In other words, the Seahawks would add a good player who knows the city of Seattle but, more importantly, knows what Macdonald would want and the communication verbiage he uses.
That player is Jadeveon Clowney. Plus, Seattle would only have to spend $1.5 million in adding him because Clowney is owed other money by the Carolina Panthers. Clowney would cost $8 million in 2025, but Seattle could release him and save $8 million. Hopefully, Clowney would prove himself to be worthy of being kept around next season, though.
The Panthers are certainly not going to make the playoffs this season, so they might be sellers at the NFL trade deadline, which is set for November 5. This is especially true for Clowney, as he is now in his early 30s and is signed only through 2025. He hasn't been overly productive this season, but that could have as much to do with the overall lack of talent on the Panthers than with Clowney specifically.
Plus, Clowney had arguably his best season last year when he was playing under Macdonald when both were with the Baltimore Ravens. Clowney had a career-high 71 total quarterback pressures and tied a career-high with 9.5 sacks. He has also always been good against the run.
Trading a mid-round draft pick for Clowney should supply the Seahawks with another excellent rotational pass rusher, and Clowney knows how to set a hard edge against the run. Since he and Macdonald worked so recently together, there should be little adjustment needed for Clowney, and he should be an immediately impactful player for Seattle.
