Browns and Clowney are circling back around to each other

Jadeveon Clowney has been a free agent long enough that people started wondering if the former No. 1 overall pick was just going to sit out the summer. Then the Browns, of all teams, brought him in for a visit this week, and it turns out this isn't some courtesy meeting -- Cleveland actually wants him.

The visit went down on Tuesday and by all accounts it wasn't just a formality. Jordan Schultz reported the sides came away with a 'successful' visit and that they'll stay in contact going forward, which in free agency speak usually means a deal is closer than not. Then on Thursday, GM Andrew Berry made it official from his own mouth at training camp: the Browns want to sign him.

This isn't Clowney's first rodeo in Cleveland. He played there in 2021 and 2022, and the second stint ended messy -- Clowney publicly griped about the Browns scheming coverage to get Myles Garrett better matchups, got sent home before the regular-season finale, and reportedly refused to play early downs in a loss to the Ravens. He was released that following March. Berry has since called it a 'moment of weakness' and insisted the relationship never actually soured, which tracks given the Browns are the ones knocking on his door again.

The football case for this reunion is simple. Cleveland lost Cameron Thomas in free agency and hasn't replaced him, leaving a real hole opposite Garrett off the edge. Clowney, now 33, is coming off a productive year with the Cowboys where he racked up 8.5 sacks in 13 games -- proof he can still get after the quarterback even this deep into his career. Slotting him in as a rotational rusher behind Garrett is exactly the kind of low-risk, prove-it move a team makes in late July when camp bodies are thin.

But Cleveland isn't the only team calling. Schultz's reporting made clear an NFC West team has real interest, and by Thursday that mystery suitor had a name attached -- the Seahawks. So this is shaping up as a two-horse race between a familiar face in Cleveland and a fresh start out West, with Clowney holding the leverage while both sides wait him out.

Nothing is signed yet, and Berry himself said Thursday that things are 'still in the balance.' But when a GM goes out of his way to confirm interest publicly instead of staying coy, that's usually a sign a deal is trending in one direction. Keep an eye on whether Clowney takes another visit -- to Cleveland, Seattle, or anywhere else -- because that's the next real tell.