The trade speculation surrounding Houston Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney has reached a fever pitch this past week. As previously reported by PFN’s Tony Pauline, Cole Thompson, and Matt Cannata, Clowney is being pursued by a number of teams including the Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, and Buffalo Bills.
Earlier today news broke that Clowney has decided to fire his longtime agent, Bus Cook.
Unhappy with the state of talks about his future, Jadeveon Clowney recently fired his longtime agent, Bus Cook, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. Clowney was originally expected to report to the #Texans this week, but has yet to sign his franchise tender.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 27, 2019
The timing of Cook’s firing is odd considering Clowney has yet to sign his franchise tender. His tender can range from either $15.967 million or $17.128 million depending on the grievance over whether he’s a defensive end or an outside linebacker.
We don’t know all of the intricate details as to why Clowney fired his longtime agent. What we do know is that in the past few days, Tony Pauline was told that Texans head coach Bill O’Brien has been pushing a trade to Miami because of his relationship with Brian Flores. However, Jadeveon Clowney does not want to go to Miami because he would prefer to play for a contender.
According to reports, Clowney sent the letter releasing Cook more than five days ago. This is important because Clowney is now able to hire a new agent as soon as this evening. We are being told that he wanted to release Cook because he was “unhappy with the state of talks about his future”.
Tony Pauline has learned that there is no consensus in the agent community on who Clowney will sign as his new agent. As told to Pauline by one source in the agent community, “he (Clowney) is all over the place”.
The decision now lies in the hands of Clowney. Like O’Brien said Saturday night;
“Until he comes in and signs the tender, really the ball’s in his court relative to playing for the Texans and all those things, just like it’s been since the beginning of training camp,” O’Brien said. He’s a franchise player, and so, until he comes and signs the tender, really there’s nothing else to talk about.”
Clowney now has the option to bring in an agent who will focus on the teams that he is interested in playing for. Only time will tell where this move will take the talented young player.
Stay tuned here and to @PFN365 on Twitter for the latest.