Jadeveon Clowney to the Titans: Baltimore Ravens can move on

With Jadeveon Clowney going to the Tennessee Titans, the Baltimore Ravens fanbase can finally move on:

The number one name spoken by Baltimore Ravens fans this offseason wasn’t Lamar Jackson or Marquise Brown. It wasn’t an addition like Calais Campbell or Patrick Queen,. The Ravens Flock spent the offseason talking about the possibility of signing Jadeveon Clowney. To the credit of the fanbase it did stay a possibility all the way through the summer. When Earl Thomas was released the chances of the Ravens having interest went up as well.

In the end, it doesn’t matter if Clowney wanted to go the Ravens. It doesn’t matter if the Ravens were involved in talks with him and lost the sweepstakes. In the end, Clowney is a Titan and the Ravens should be fine with that.

The Ravens weren’t going to win the sweepstakes for Clowney because they were never going to feel comfortable spending the money on him. Even with Thomas being gone and his money being reclaimed by the Ravens, they didn’t have as much cap space as the Titans or the Saints. It never felt like they had two feet in this thing.

Clowney made the whole offseason his little sideshow. Everyone was on Clowney watch all offseason. He took longer to make a decision than Sally from When Harry Met Sally. The biggest reason Clowney didn’t sign before now is probably because he wanted to avoid training camp. This is understandable but it is a red flag. He already had a reputation for being a player who takes plays off.

Clowney has more talent than Pernell McPhee and that’s not debatable. The Ravens outside linebacker group has one thing in common though, they are all hungry. McPhee wants to prove that he’s not done. Tyus Bowser wants to have a breakout year in a contract year. Jaylon Ferguson wants to take the next step while Judon has to prove himself worthy of the expensive franchise tag.

The Ravens may have the scrappiest outside linebacker group in the NFL and with Clowney that may not have been the case. If Bowser has that breakout year and Judon shows up big, Baltimore won’t be talking about Clowney going to the Titans in December.

All offseason the Ravens have been at the center of the conversation revolving the potential signing of a big name. Clowney talk persisted. Antonio Brown talk had it’s day in the sun and Dez Bryant speculation just recently fizzled away. All of these players had at least one red flag or concern. All of them were available this late in the offseason for a reason. The Ravens went with none of them and now we can all move on.

The bottom line:

Clowney and Judon would have been a great combination. Originally, I was in the camp of pundits who didn’t think Baltimore should sign Clowney. When the Thomas thing happened, going down that road seemed suddenly plausible. I never fully bought in and it doesn’t seem like the Ravens did either. They could have made it happen. It would have stretched them thin, but it wasn’t impossible.

Clowny is a Titan. That pipe dream is over. It’s done. We can finally stop talking about it. Ravens fans should be okay with that.