Five toughest decisions facing Brett Veach for KC Chiefs
By Matt Conner
Frank Clark’s contract
It feels like common knowledge at this point that Frank Clark is expensive, but it still feels shocking every time to look at the actual numbers. Clark has the single biggest cap hit this season of any defensive player in the NFL. He’s got the biggest cap hit of any member of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. He’s No. 7 overall of any NFL player as Clark Hunt is on the hook to pony up $25.8 million for Clark’s services this season.
Here’s the crazy(er) part: Clark is owed $500K more than that next season and $2 million more in 2023.
On the plus side, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way that the Chiefs won a Super Bowl on the other side of trading for and signing Frank Clark. It’s hard to put a price tag on the team’s first championship in 50 years. All at once, decades of misery, of bad luck, of a postseason monkey that would never let go suddenly vanished. That should not be forgotten in the midst of this analysis.
The important note to go with the aforementioned Super Bowl win is that the Chiefs don’t lift that Lombardi without Clark, who was an absolute shark in the water for the Chiefs in the postseason. In six total postseason games in the last two seasons, Clark has 10 tackles for loss and 8 quarterback sacks. If you’re paying a player for elite-level production, the Chiefs have gotten exactly that when it counts the most.
How does that balance out, however, with six sacks during the regular season in 15 starts for the Chiefs last season? There have been some issues with a physical (stomach) illness and it’s not like the Chiefs have helped him with a dynamic player on the other side. That said, Chris Jones occupies plenty of attention in the middle and less expensive players have offered far more production around the league.
As Jones becomes more expensive, Clark’s hold on the Chiefs salary cap is going to be something with which Veach has to contend. It’s not an easy deal to get out of, and to do so would also leave the Chiefs in a rather vulnerable place with the pass rush. The best thing for all parties involved is for Clark to somehow live up to the deal or even a high percentage of it. Is that possible? We shall see.