I don't know what the hell they are doing ….
I really don't like the idea of trading Clowney , he is a really good player. Not DPOY / DMVP but a notch or two below that. You aren't likely to replace him with anything close to his production no matter how much money you throw at a player , there just aren't that many as impactful.
This year and next they have Watson for peanuts , then they are gonna have to pay him the big bucks …. 9-13% of the total cap.
Last year they rolled over $18m , currently they have ~$24m in space. Griffin is likely gone freeing up another $2.6m.
IF they were going to keep Clowney , this would have been the year to front load a log term deal. Possible they can do that next year …. especially if they are rolling over the majority of that $26m but beyond that , money is gonna get tight with a good quarterback on his second contract.
Your other edge rusher expires after this season too - Mercilus as does Lamar Miller …. and Colvin's albatross expires too. You also have Fuller as a potential expiring or 5th year option at ~$10m and JJo in the final year of his contract that is dirt cheap by corner standards with a cap hit of $4.3m.
Do we have any indication of what Clowney asked for , number of years , salary per ?