Keeping Clowney
For those of you who are apprehensive about David Clowney making the club, here is a summary of the NFL rules:
By August 30, at 4:00 pm New York time, the clubs must cut down to 53 players. All players not on the 53 man roster must be irrevocably cut. There is no PUP list or short-term injury list, it’s either on the club or off. Injured-Reserve is a full season deal, there’s no four-week or eight-week option. The practice squad consists of formerly cut players.
Before each game, 45 players are listed as active, while 8 remain inactive. The 53-man roster remains the same.
For David Clowney, assuming the club wants to keep him (and they’d be nuts not to considering his pre-season showing), the practice squad is not an option. He would have to be cut first. Any other club could offer him a practice squad contract and he would be free to accept. Even if he was signed to the Jets practice squad, he could be signed off of it by any club during the season as long as they kept him on their roster for the full season. That’s how we got him, from the Green Bay practice squad. It’s likely that teams hungry for wide receiver talent are watching the Jets very carefully to see what they do with Clowney. If we know about him, so do they. It’s a cheap way to get a talented player.
The good news is, the limit, 45 (and 49) players only a few seasons ago, is now 53. This means he could remain on the roster and simply be inactive until he healed. This is probably what the Jets have in mind.
21 Responses to Keeping Clowney
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Andrew Weiss says:
Dylan,
Clowney’s already started on the active roster for Training Camp. He is not eligible, as a result, for the PUP list.
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Pete57 says:
Dylan, you missed this part of the explaination:
A player is not allowed to be placed on the PUP list if they start training camp on the active roster.
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Jerrance says:
According to other sites on the Internet the PUP works as follows:
A player who is put on the PUP list before the preseason’s first roster cutdown (from 80 to 65 players) must remain inactive through the sixth week of the regular season. At that point, he has a three-week practice “window” before he must either return to the 53-man roster or end his season on injured reserve.I’m thinking that’s a better option than stashing him on the 53 man roster or IR. On the PUP he can’t practice with the team for the first 6 weeks but he can rehab and attend meetings. That sounds like a pretty good option for Mr. Clowney and the Jets.
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Harlan Lachman says:
I think we have to be nuts to have Clowney one of the 53, especially if as some have posted it means exposing him to other teams. If the prognosis is really only 6 weeks, with the buy there is no way he misses more than 4 games and I doubt he misses that many.
Again, as posted elsewhere on this blog, he is head and shoulders above our other WR with the exception of Coles and Cotch.
harlan
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Bent says: Every source I have seen on this whole thing is misleading…LeCharles Bentley was placed on the PUP list in late August last year, as were Troy Brown and Chad Jackson. All three had been injured throughout camp, so maybe they had already been on the PUP active list and were just transferred to the PUP reserve list at the 65 man cutdown point, in which case I would understand that Clowney (having been participating rather than on the PUP active list) could not do the same. But, in the case of Bentley, he had apparently been practicing, which would seem to be illegal if on the PUP.
I’m sure guys have been PUP’d during camp before, but these were the only examples I could find.
Maybe you are able to cut down to 65 (or even 53) first and then stick him on the PUP before the start of the season, thereby not using the PUP to preserve a roster spot?
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Bent says:
PS – it’s a pretty small sample size to say he is the third best WR they have. The knock on Clowney has been route running and hands (that’s why he never stuck in GB in the first place). We’ve already seen him drop at least one ball, so I think it might be a bit soon to annoint him as the next Don Maynard. Let’s hope those areas, which haven’t been a problem so far, continue not to let him down when he returns.
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According to my source at the NFL, once a player participates in a practice, he is not eligible for the PUP list. Players may arrive after practice begins, but they must be immediately put on the active roster or on the PUP list.
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billvv says:
Since they can only dress 45, I think the team will count him among the remainder because three weeks of the, say, six he will be out are preseason. And, remember, the bye week is early this year. I’d be very surprised if they exposed him to other teams by cutting him.
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Dylan says:
That’s weird, in sources I’ve seen it says it can be done before the 1st roster cutdown, not the 1st preseason game.
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Bent,
Keller had a drop too. I haven’t seen Clowney drop any in practice. His hands are not suspect from what I’ve seen.
Clowney outran a safety and corner twice, in game 1. Admittedly, these guys were second and third stringers but he beat double coverage. Until the start of last night’s Giant game, Clowney was leading the preseason NFL in receiving.
Having seen all these guys, Clowney looks like a legitimate deep threat. Something we haven’t had since Moss was traded. Stuckey and Smith are excellent receivers but I don’t see the kind of speed that scares corners. They might well replace Coles and Cotchery but a deep threat is a different animal. BTW, he ran the 40 in 4.37 at the combine.
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HOZ THE JET says:
clowney is better than stuckey hands down.
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Brandon "You're With Me"riweather says:
Exactly what I thought. That said, I don’t see how we can let him eat up a roster spot for half the year while injured, when he’s shown you nothing but 2 good PRESEASON games playing against 2ND and 3RD stringers.
He’ll should go on IR.
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Bent says:
Actually he ran a 4.35! That’s what Clowney is – a raw guy with track speed who is improving his receiving skills. Yes, so far he looks good and hopefully he continues to do so. I am just saying that it’s a difficult decision to cut a Wright, Ball or Henry just so you can keep him based on two games.
In Green Bay, he couldn’t hold onto the ball (and it was a weakness at VT too), so it is good that he has improved that aspect of his game, as it means the Jets might have got great value. The only thing I have heard him do wrong in camp is to run a bad route, leading to a pick. And he probably is (was) the only legit deep threat on the team.
By all means stash him on IR or whatever, but the guy is only signed up to the end of the season, so they’re still probably going to have to compete with other teams to re-sign him, so that doesn’t really “protect” him, does it?
(He’s on a one year “futures” contract, like Ratliff).
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SackDance99 says:
Only his doctors and the Jets staff know how long he’ll be out. If, as Brandon speculates, he’s out half a season, then he should be placed on IR. No matter how promising he is, having a player take up a valuable roster spot for 1/2 the season is nuts. If he’s out until the October 12th game (after the bye and missing just 4 games), then it’s a harder decision. Favre could use a zone buster and Clowney looks like a bona fide deep threat. If there’s any doubt, IR him.
On a related note, why no love for Brad Smith? He’s a special teams demon and a dynamic open field runner…that was a nice reverse against the Redskins. I like his size and open field ability…I actually like him more than I like Stuckey, but I know I’m probably in the minority here. I think he gives the team greater flexibility because Stuckey has to play the slot when he’s in, but Smith could be outside with Coles or Keller (depending on the defense) in the slot.
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Bent says:
I’ve posted this before several times on Brad Smith:
“…it is not out of the question for Smith to put up excellent numbers this year…
Year 1 – 9-61
Year 2 – 32-325-2TD
Year 3 – ???Compare with Cotchery’s numbers:
Year 1 – 6-60
Year 2 – 19-251
Year 3 – 82-961-6TD “If Smith can even do half of what Cotchery did in year three that would justify a back-up WR spot. He just needs to cut out the drops and make a few more impact plays, which is more likely now that the Jets have increased playmaking ability. Still, right now, he’s probably on the bubble.
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jvsvn says:
Let’s face it. Coles, Cotch, and Smith are locks. It seems that the other 2 spots are being fought out by Clowney, Stuckey, Wright and Henry. Something’s got to give. Either Clowney on IR, Henry on the practice squad with any one of the four being cut outright. It’s a particularly hard problem because Wright is such a demon on special teams. He’s the only one of the 4 that has PROVEN value to the team, albeit not as a WR. With only 53 spots, there is only so much room for potential on the roster. If I had to guess, Henry starts the season on the practice squad. Assuming Clowney’s injury isn’t serious enough for the IR, I think Wright is vulnerable. The team needs to have some weapons that take advantage of Favre’s skills. Stuckey and a healthy Clowney make Farced. However, that will be a very painful cut.
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Bent –
Cotchery was a WR before getting to the NFL though. To expect Smith to duplicate those numbers while he’s learning how to play the position for the first time seems unrealistic.i don’t disagree that he should make the team as a backup – i just have lower expectations.
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Moyvore says:
Bolland reports today that:
“The Jets signed 6-4, 225-pound receiver Larry Brackins, who spent the previous two seasons with the Philadelphia Soul of the AFL. Brackins, out of Pearl River CC (Miss.), was selected in the fifth round by the Buccaneers in 2005.”
Had (maybe still does) the same agent as Fauve according to Brackins’ big 2005 Sporting News article.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_10_229/ai_n12937454/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
No mention of his Wonderlic scores (it didn’t have to).
Ahem. I’m sure he compensates with great football smarts.
(At this point in Training Camp, even practice squad is probably a big stretch. But, who knows…)
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subwayfare says:
I broke my collar bone in high school. I wouldn’t be so certain it’s going to heal to NFL football strength in twelve weeks. Maybe with surgery, pins and whatever – in my day they just threw you in a sling bandaged to your body and hoped for the best – but those roster spots are valuable. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him IR’d since he’s only had a couple of good preseason games. Granted, he showed flashes in those two games, enough not to cut or expose him on the practice squad. IR, fresh start and deal next year would be my guess.
we really need this guy but stuckey can fill his spot until he comes back but i believe stuckey is gonna shine as the 3rd WR and when clowney is healthy we might not need him