Seahawks Need to Move on From Jadeveon Clowney and Sign Everson Griffen ASAP

The Seattle Seahawks seem poised to land a pass-rushing star this offseason, one way or another.

But they can't cut off their nose to spite their face and wait too long to come to terms with Jadeveon Clowney, who aptly filled the role in 2019.

Ex-Vikings star Everson Griffen is reportedly interested in joining the 'Hawks, but the team won't budge in his direction until they get clarity on Clowney's expectations. If Seattle waits too long to act, though, they might miss out on the satisfactory replacement sitting right in front of them.

The Seahawks have $14.7 million in available cap space after slicing Tedric Thompson and tight end Ed Dickson off their roster on Tuesday. While that's still nowhere close to Clowney's continued ask for $21 million, the two sides remain linked after a profitable 2019 campaign. It's always seemed like there would be a marriage there, but Clowney's gotten no closer to stooping to Seattle's budgetary level in two weeks' worth of public jockeying.

Waiting on him to dramatically reverse course could cost the Seahawks, when a less expensive short-term option and adequate mimic of Clowney's skill set like Griffen is still available (and interested).

It is worth mentioning, however, that while Clowney has been occasionally subjected to on-field accusations of dirty play, the question marks surrounding Griffen are a bit more notable: in fall 2018, he both threatened to shoot up a hotel (though it was never clear if a gun was present), then escaped from the back of an ambulance en route to a mental health evaluation, claiming, "They had gloves, on there's something in here and they tried to get me. I'm not crazy."

By 2019, however, he was back for a full season, racking up eight sacks in his age-32 campaign.

Clowney is a safer play for 2020, but when you factor in the long-term cap complications of paying him, it might be more palatable to bank on a short-term burst from Griffen, especially if he wants in.