The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of big-name players and number of significant football decisions to make this offseason because of the financial costs involved in their presence on the roster together. One of the biggest decisions is around pass rusher and defensive end Frank Clark.
A recent column from Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballantine calls out the single worst contract on every NFL team and it’s not surprising in the slightest that Clark’s deal is listed under the Chiefs’ heading. After all, general manager Brett Veach handed him an incredibly lucrative deal after trading for him and the escalation these days is enormous.
This season, the cap hit for Clark was the single highest cap total for any non-quarterback in the NFL. In fact only six quarterbacks were scheduled for a bigger cap hit in 2021 than Clark at $25.8M: Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Ben Roethlisberger. Even scarier is that this total only climbs higher for each of the next two seasons.
It’s not a big surprise that Frank Clark’s mammoth deal is considered the Chiefs’ worst contract at the present time.
This is the cost of shoving money down Into the bottom of the proverbial bag when organizing the deal. The Chiefs knew this, of course, but it makes for a tough pill to swallow when the first year of such a large contract lands at $6.5 million and three others eclipse the $25 million mark.
Here’s the conundrum for the Chiefs. First, there’s no easy way out of this deal. There’s a load of dead cap space that comes with just setting Clark free. Second, the Chiefs don’t exactly have a ton of proven pass rushers on the roster already. They need Clark, much as they’d like him to cost less.
Even more important is the fact that Clark’s deal is going to start look normal in terms of the market as years go by. Already, Clark will be the third-highest cap hit among defensive ends in 2022 and that’s before any further extensions are signed or new deals in free agency. While Clark is getting paid more, the truth is that he’s dropping in terms of his market position from the highest cap hit of any defender in the NFL to the top three at his position. As Ballantine notes:
“That’s the going price for an elite edge-rusher. The problem is that Clark hasn’t been that for the Chiefs.”
If the Chiefs want someone to fill the role Clark is supposed to fill, then they have to pay someone this much anyway. And they already have Clark as someone around whom they have to plan. How does a team stomach the costs of ridding themselves of one lucrative deal deemed not worth it and then sign someone else for that same rate? The truth is they likely don’t.
The best way forward here would likely be to come to some terms on a renegotiation, realizing just how crippling this deal could be in some respects. That said, Clark isn’t a bust at his position. If the Chiefs moved on, in other words, they would lose very real production.. It’s just that he’s so expensive that the production doesn’t match.
Here’s the thing, if the Chiefs are raising a Lombardi at the end of this road they’re on, none of these costs will matter. Clark is a menace in the postseason and has proven himself capable of carrying this team defensively when they need it. Maybe that’s the best way to justify this deal in the end and just eat the costs knowing it’s all part of the championship package.
Originally Posted by CoMoChief:
The Houston and Berry contracts were far worse.
Neither showed up in the playoffs when it mattered the most.
At least Clark was a big part in the Chiefs SB win. I can at least stomach his cap hit for that reason and that reason alone.
I'm so tired of seeing posts about his great post season, but he lucked into several unimportant sacks and ran into a couple important sacks by riding the coat-tails of other players great performances. I'm ready for him to be gone gone gone. [Reply]
Originally Posted by CoMoChief:
The Houston and Berry contracts were far worse.
Neither showed up in the playoffs when it mattered the most.
At least Clark was a big part in the Chiefs SB win. I can at least stomach his cap hit for that reason and that reason alone.
I'm so tired of seeing posts about his great post season, but he lucked into several unimportant sacks and ran into a couple important sacks by riding the coat-tails of other players great performances. I'm ready for him to be gone gone gone. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TwistedChief:
Frank Clark could be listed as literally anything outside of limited, questionable, or out and I'd be totally fine with that this week. It's the playoffs, folks. We forgive all sins. All hands on deck.
No question.
The cost is sunk. The problem is that Chris Jones was a god among men against the Bengals. He was routinely murdering the middle of their line and Burrow just slid to his left and found the time he needed to get the ball downfield.
We just cannot have a repeat of that. Frank Clark absolutely has to show up as a complementary threat in this game. If not we'll have to send extra rushers and start exposing the back end of our secondary to Diggs.
The Bills don't have a collection of gamebreakers but they have guys who will find space if given a little time and secure the catch.
One guy can't do it on his own. Jones is going to need help and Clark's gone back underground after a 3-4 week stretch of solid complementary play.
You truly confident he'll rediscover that mid-season form? [Reply]
Originally Posted by TribalElder:
Is Frank Clark the all time post season leader in sacks for KC?
I saw he has like 11 but I'm sure some came from the seahags right
He has 8 sacks w/ the Chiefs. And in fairness, the only truly good game he played all year in 2020 was against Buffalo in the AFC Championship game.
It's not impossible - but boy I sure would like more than blind faith when it comes to a guy with one of the biggest cap hits in the game.
We need everything Clark has in the tank on Sunday. And it has to be the good version of him. No excuses. I don't care about GI bugs or wrists or hamstrings or whatever.
Earn your fucking keep, Frank - if only for a single Sunday. [Reply]
Has Frank Clark lived up to his big money contract... no. However, he has been good. Our defense has been designed to set the edge. This is effective and Clark is very good at this aspect of the game. We lead the league in sacks in 2018, but our defense sucked. When Clark was out early in the year, we struggled setting the edge. Clark is a good player, unfortunately, not at his current level of earnings. However, those on here that thinks he is total ass, don't understand football or Spags scheme. [Reply]
The cost is sunk. The problem is that Chris Jones was a god among men against the Bengals. He was routinely murdering the middle of their line and Burrow just slid to his left and found the time he needed to get the ball downfield.
We just cannot have a repeat of that. Frank Clark absolutely has to show up as a complementary threat in this game. If not we'll have to send extra rushers and start exposing the back end of our secondary to Diggs.
The Bills don't have a collection of gamebreakers but they have guys who will find space if given a little time and secure the catch.
One guy can't do it on his own. Jones is going to need help and Clark's gone back underground after a 3-4 week stretch of solid complementary play.
You truly confident he'll rediscover that mid-season form?
Frank Clark could not have a sack in the game this Sunday and still be a valuable part of the defense. We need to contain Allen to the pocket and not let him scramble and we need to set the edge against their newly found run offense. Clark has been good at this all year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief:
Has Frank Clark lived up to his big money contract... no. However, he has been good. Our defense has been designed to set the edge. This is effective and Clark is very good at this aspect of the game. We lead the league in sacks in 2018, but our defense sucked. When Clark was out early in the year, we struggled setting the edge. Clark is a good player, unfortunately, not at his current level of earnings. However, those on here that thinks he is total ass, don't understand football or Spags scheme.
We run a 4-3 under and you're trying to sell me on Spags weakside defensive ends job is 'to set the edge' 3 years after we long since dispelled that nonsense.
And I'm the one that doesn't understand football? We're honestly still fucking this 'he sets the edge' chicken? All facts to the contrary?
On the rare occasion that Clark shows up healthy, quick and motivated, you SEE what he's supposed to be doing in this system. The unfortunate truth is that he's rarely 2 of those 3 things, let alone all 3 at once. And then when an LT stands his ass straight up and he straightens and gets run off the play (if he bothers to remain engaged at all), I get to hear how he's done his job.
Absolute nonsense. No, he hasn't been good. He's had flashes of good. As a general rule, however, he's been worse than guys making a fraction of what he's making.
If we actually HAD a legit weak side end who could be counted on to consistently challenge LTs, we'd do a hell of a lot more with shifting around those even fronts. Sadly we don't, so Spags has to shelf a great deal of what it is he would otherwise do. [Reply]
Okay well here's my thing...we've all kinda gona back and forth on Clark and his performance but the fact is he has been a key part of a defense that has helped us get to 2 Super Bowls in a row, win 1 of them and now on the path to hopefully 3 in a row.
But bad contract and stuff is what we need to focus on.....don't want Clark going broke [Reply]
You truly confident he'll rediscover that mid-season form?
Maybe yes, maybe no. I don’t think there’s been any great or obvious rhyme or reason to his explain his production up and downs. I’m merely stating that everything else is in the periphery this week and we just need some performance that elevates in some capacity. [Reply]
Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief:
Frank Clark could not have a sack in the game this Sunday and still be a valuable part of the defense. We need to contain Allen to the pocket and not let him scramble and we need to set the edge against their newly found run offense. Clark has been good at this all year.
No he hasn't. At all.
Again, there's not a single objective metric whereby Clark is even average. He's not 'setting the edge', he's not occupying blockers, he's not winning his reps. He's a warm body.
One thing he actually did well was rush the passer for about 4-6 weeks in the middle of the year. But as a run defender, watch Melvin Ingram actually attack the LOS and tell me that you see anything like that out of Frank Clark. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TwistedChief:
Maybe yes, maybe no. I don’t think there’s been any great or obvious rhyme or reason to his explain his production up and downs. I’m merely stating that everything else is in the periphery this week and we just need some performance that elevates in some capacity.
I believe the first year was a nagging stomach illness and this year was an injury but I could be wrong. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
No he hasn't. At all.
Again, there's not a single objective metric whereby Clark is even average. He's not 'setting the edge', he's not occupying blockers, he's not winning his reps. He's a warm body.
One thing he actually did well was rush the passer for about 4-6 weeks in the middle of the year. But as a run defender, watch Melvin Ingram actually attack the LOS and tell me that you see anything like that out of Frank Clark.
:-) Delusional...Rewatch this years games with and without Clark... [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
Okay well here's my thing...we've all kinda gona back and forth on Clark and his performance but the fact is he has been a key part of a defense that has helped us get to 2 Super Bowls in a row, win 1 of them and now on the path to hopefully 3 in a row.
But bad contract and stuff is what we need to focus on.....don't want Clark going broke
He hasn't been a key part of this defense apart from a handful of games in his entire Chiefs career.
By and large he's been along for the ride.
As I've said before - Daniel Sorensen was a MASSIVE part of the 2019 Championship. Yet nobody defends that worthless ass for it. Nobody keeps pointing to that and saying "hey, we need to lay off Sorensen - he was huge when we won the title..."
And damn sure nobody says anything silly like "his job is to set the edge and he's good at that" as though A) that's his job or B) he's even worth a damn at it.
We have excuse after excuse for Frank Clark and nobody else on this roster sans the genuine HoF talents get that kind of latitude. Not even Mathieu. But for whatever reason we still have the Frank Clark stans trying to pretend like he has Tyson Jackson's job and he's just some braindead 3-tech who's supposed to go out there and 2-gap.
It's just nonsense. The weakside end in a Spags system is supposed to just set the edge. Yeah...sure thing. [Reply]
