All-Pro pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney agrees to multi-year deal with Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers have landed one of the top pass rushers on the free agent market — and it just so happens they’re bringing him home, too.

Jadeveon Clowney, the All-Pro pass rusher and three-time Pro Bowler from Rock Hill, South Carolina, has signed with his hometown team, the Panthers announced Wednesday afternoon. He agreed to a two-year, $20 million deal worth up to $24 million, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The addition of Clowney — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft — fortifies a pass rush that took its lumps at the beginning of free agency but has steadily been rebuilt by general manager Dan Morgan and the Panthers’ front office. In a matter of weeks, the Panthers have acquired Clowney and former Vikings player DJ Wonnum to help replace the departures of the team’s two top sack leaders from 2023: outside linebacker Brian Burns, who was traded to the New York Giants; and Frankie Luvu, who signed with the Washington Commanders.

To put those departures in perspective: The Panthers notched a league-worst 27 sacks in 2023, and all but 2.5 of those sacks were made by players who won’t be on Carolina’s roster in 2024.

Clowney, 31, is coming off one of his best seasons to date. In his 2023 spent as a Baltimore Raven, Clowney tied his career-best mark with 9.5 sacks in 17 games played. He also added two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

For his career, the former South Carolina Gamecock has 52.5 sacks in 126 games played.

Clowney is a South Pointe High School graduate and one of the biggest names to come out of Rock Hill — a town of about 70,000 people that has produced so much NFL talent that it’s known as “Football City, USA.” Clowney isn’t the only South Pointe Stallion to play for his hometown team, either. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore did, too, when he joined the Panthers in the middle of the 2021 season.

Here are three aspects of the deal that immediately stick out.

Carolina Panthers pass rush now led by former USC Gamecocks

Clowney’s arrival now means the Panthers’ pass-rushing attack, in the 3-4 scheme supervised by defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, will be led by two players with substantial South Carolina ties.

Clowney, of course, grew up in the state and became an all-time great South Carolina Gamecock in his time in Columbia. His stadium-shaking, helmet-popping-off hit still takes up real estate in the state’s sports lore. And Wonnum, who will presumably line up opposite Clowney, is a Gamecock as well.

It’s worth noting that Jaycee Horn, the team’s top cornerback, was a star at USC, too.

Clowney signing breaks apparent Panthers’ free agency mold

The acquisition of Clowney is a bit different than the ones the Panthers have done during this free agency period.

Carolina, in its other acquisitions, has followed a simple formula: sign players who are under 30 years old and/or have previous experience with the defensive staff. Take defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson, who spent two years with Evero in Los Angeles. Take Josey Jewell at inside linebacker, who played for Evero in Denver. Take Jordan Fuller and K’Lavon Chaisson and virtually every other pickup.

Clowney, meanwhile, is in his 30s and hasn’t worked with Evero before. This indicates that Clowney’s talent was too great for the Panthers to pass up on — even if his profile differed from the mold the Panthers were looking for in other future contributors.

Panthers multi-year deal a ‘first’ for Clowney in a long time

This is also the first multi-year deal Clowney has signed since his rookie contract in Houston. Clowney, who in 2024 will join his sixth pro team in 11 seasons, has operated on one-year deals since signing with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019.