Texans' Jadeveon Clowney Can Prove He's NFL's Biggest Bargain

It's an extremely reasonable, borderline bargain deal for one of the better veteran edge rushers in the NFL. And when looking at what some of the top edge rushers on the market are making on their respective deals, the value looks even better for Houston.

An AAV of $5.5 million for Clowney barely lands within the top 60 of the NFL's highest-paid pass rushers in terms of cash.

According to Spotrac, $5.5 million in total cash is the same as New York Giants' defensive end/linebacker Chauncey Goldston. For reference, he played 10 games during the 2025 season to put together 1.0 sack and one start, playing in primarily special teams snaps.

As for Clowney, he proved he's still capable of playing well in the back-nine of his career in a rotational role with the Dallas Cowboys. And, as long as his production doesn't fall off a cliff in 2026, it will show that his contract is an extremely great deal for the Texans.

Jadeveon Clowney Can Be a Steal for Houston

In 2025, Clowney played in 13 games with Dallas to put together 41 tackles, 12 TFLs, and 8.5 sacks, which makes for his third time in the past five seasons that he's had eight or more sacks in a year.

Even in what will be his age-33 season, Clowney is able to be respectable, high-end edge rusher who not only sets the edge and is a strong piece defending the run, has developed into a nice pass-rusher as well. His sack numbers have remained high, and could remain around the same in Houston.

But that impact for Clowney might be able to become further heightened on a defensive line like Houston's when he's paired with guys like Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter on the edge with him.

Clowney's individual numbers could see a slight dip, and his snap count could see the same effect, but he allows the Texans to rotate between all three of their high-end edge rushers and create what might just be the best three-man group off the edge in the entire league.

Clowney can play alongside either Anderson and Hunter when the other player is off the field, and really make this defensive line a tough task to stop on every down.

No matter if it’s a pairing of Anderson-Hunter, Hunter-Clowney, or Anderson-Clowney, this edge rush is a problem and offered a fit for Clowney that was hard to replicate with other teams––especially so when factoring in his history being the top draft pick to Houston in 2014.

Bottom Line

For many teams, Clowney could be as high up the depth chart as their DE1, and in the process, have a near-double-digit sack season, while playing for a higher contract than what the Texans are paying him.

But Clowney chose to prioritize his role and his place on a winning team to make his fit in Houston come to fruition. And if those efforts from the Texans' former No. 1 pick make it result in a Super Bowl, there's going to be little debate that his $5.5 million contract is one of the best deals in the entire NFL.