Los Angeles Rams Should Pursue Former No. 1 Pick This Offseason, per PFF
As the Los Angeles Rams try to capture another Super Bowl title in the waning years of quarterback Matthew Stafford's career, one outlet believes adding another former No. 1 overall pick could help them in that quest.
Pro Football Focus recently listed one free agent that would make sense for each team to sign this upcoming offseason. For the Rams, they went with veteran pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
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"Clowney has spent consecutive seasons in the same city just once since leaving the Houston Texans before the 2019 campaign," PFF wrote. "A stint with a Rams team that was better than many expected in 2023 would seem like a good fit. He is currently having a career year in Baltimore, with an 81.2 PFF pass-rush grade and 71 quarterback pressures."
While Clowney was a three-time Pro Bowl selection during five seasons in Houston, PFF was correct in pointing out that the 30-year-old is having perhaps the finest season of his NFL career in 2023 for the Ravens.
In 17 regular season games, Clowney recorded 43 combined tackles, 19 quarterback hits, 9.5 sacks, nine tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. It's only the second time in Clowney's career that he's played in every regular season game, with 2017 being the other.
Clowney and the Ravens earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and after a first-round bye, they will host the upstart Texans -- the franchise that drafted Clowney with the top pick nearly a decade ago -- in the AFC Divisional Round. Clowney has twice played in the second round of the postseason, doing so with the Texans in 2016 and the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. He's never reached the Conference Championship Round of the postseason.
As for his fit with the Rams, it will, of course, come down to dollars. Clowney is having a tremendous season, but with that, he'll likely want significantly more than the $2.5 million salary he signed for this season.
He's going to turn 31 next month and has a lengthy injury history, so any team with interest in signing him -- particularly if he's looking for a multi-year commitment -- would be wise to tread carefully. There's a reason he's on his fifth team in six years.
However, if you added a healthy Clowney to a front seven that includes future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald and Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Kobie Turner, it would unquestionably make the Rams even scarier in 2024.
