Another former Carolina Panthers player has been signed by another team.
Jadeveon Clowney, the three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher the Panthers employed in 2024, has been picked up by the Dallas Cowboys, the Dallas franchise’s owner Jerry Jones told reporters on Sunday.
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Jones told reporters he signed Clowney during the Cowboys’ thrilling win on Sunday, according to a report by NBC’s Newy Scruggs. Jones delivered the news in a postgame scrum after his team’s 40-37 victory over the New York Giants that needed overtime to be settled.
Clowney is the second prominent ex-Panther who got picked up by an NFL team this week. Eddy Piñeiro, the team’s starting kicker last year, was signed by the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday.
There’s a rationale behind the timing of the two signings. Both Clowney and Pineiro are “vested veterans” — meaning they have accrued over four years of NFL experience. According to league roster rules, if a vested veteran is on a team’s active roster Week 1, their salary for the year is fully guaranteed. Signing after Week 1, thus, gives the team more cap flexibility.
Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, right, celebrates with teammates after a quarterback sack during a 2024 game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Bank of America Stadium
Clowney arrived in Charlotte in the 2024 offseason to much fanfare. It felt like a homecoming for the Rock Hill, South Carolina, native — one who made waves as one of the most physically imposing high school football players in the country in the 2000s as a South Pointe Stallion, and who helped foster a resurgence as a leader on the South Carolina Gamecocks.
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The former No. 1 overall pick signed a two-year deal worth up to $24 million in March and was meant to help fortify a pass rush that took its lumps in the 2024 offseason with the departures of Brian Burns and Frankie Luvu, among others.
Clowney didn’t stay with the Panthers for the full two years, however. He started the 14 games he played — adding up 5.5 sacks, 46 tackles, nine tackles for loss and four pass deflections — and then in May he was released by the team.
The release came mere months after the team reloaded at the EDGE rusher position, which included taking Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen in the second and third rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, respectively. The move also saved the Panthers $7.78 million in cap space.