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Why did the NFL nix Saints' innovative sign-and-trade deal for Jadeveon Clowney?

While many around the country were enjoying backyard barbecues, pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney ended up signing with the Tennessee Titans on a one-year deal on Sunday night.

There was a fascinating possibility in the works, one the league apparently nixed, that could have helped kick down the door for more imaginative NFL trades in the future.

No knock on the Titans, whose good defense appears to have gotten better with the addition of Clowney. But the report that Clowney was almost signed by a different team — and then traded immediately to the New Orleans Saints — is a far sexier storyline.