Clowney, who has not reported to training camp, is currently signed to a franchise tag and is set to make over $15 million this season. The Lions have just enough cap space to bring him in, but it’d be one of the more idiotic moves they could make. His exact cap hit is subject to change since it's unlikey that he gets traded without a deal in place.
While Clowney wouldn’t be incredibly expensive to acquire, especially compared to what the Chicago Bears gave up to get Khalil Mack, it wouldn’t be cheap either.
Houston’s offensive line is abysmal and they are in dire need of a left tackle. Yes, Detroit has a solid left tackle in Taylor Decker, but even exploring that possibility would be moronic and something that, hopefully, general manager Bob Quinn isn’t even contemplating.
Now trying to pitch Rick Wagner, that’d be intriguing, but he’s never played the left side and no chance the Texans would bite.
Giving up draft capital isn’t ideal either. While Detroit hasn’t exactly had electrifying picks as late, the draft pick criticism seems to be over exaggerated. It’s too early to have an opinion on the TJ Hockenson and Jalani Tavai picks, but they’ve had success as of late in the first round.
Frank Ragnow was a 'surprising' pick last year and the Lions got eviscerated by the fans on draft night. But he missed one snap last season and was the second best linemen last year. Jarrad Davis and Decker were the picks the two years before, both have been reliable starters. With Detroit expected to miss the playoffs in 2019, they'd have a relatively early pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, which is more valuable than Clowney.
Essentially, an edge rusher isn’t a top priority of the Lions and giving up valuable assets would be a terrible move for the franchise. While a hearing a big name like Clowney is available gets people excited, Detroit needs to sit back and watch this play out rather than get involved.