KC Chiefs: What are the realistic options for Frank Clark’s contract?

What Can the Chiefs Realistically Do with Frank Clark?

There just isn’t a whole lot a team like the Chiefs can do with Frank Clark given how much he is making and how he has performed.

If Clark were making only $10M, then the options would be much more open, but that’s not the case. He’s making $26.3M and has not performed to the level of his contract, which means that in order to move him, you’d not be able to get fair value back for him. Well, more realistically, you won’t be able to get anything back for him.

So, where does that leave the Chiefs? The way I see it, there are a couple of different options that the Chiefs front office could do. Let’s start with the first.

Cut Frank Clark and take the Dead Cap

Clark is one of the few players on this team for whom I’d be okay cutting and taking the dead cap. The contract that makes him such a disliked player can be voided and cut. If he does in fact get released this off-season, he’d clear about $13,400,000 this season, which is definitely something that needs to be considered.

Why would I do it this year? Well, on top of already eating up a ton of cap space, Clark is supposed to make even more next year. If we think that he’s overpaid only making $26,300,000 how would we feel if we were to make $27,800,000? Because that’s going in the wrong direction.

However, since I did mention his contract going up next season, I should also mention that if the Chiefs wait a year before cutting him, the Chiefs would only have to pay Clark $6,450,000. That would save the team a lot of money. However, can we as Chiefs fans afford to pay Clark what he is making this year given the team’s current financial state?

Trade Clark to a Team with Lots of Cap Space

There are a lot of teams out there with the cap space to make Clark’s contract work, but the question that needs to be answered before giving you a list of teams is: Would they trade an asset to acquire Clark? That question narrows down the list quite heavily.

After doing some digging into who would be willing to pull the trigger, I came up with three teams that I could see pull the trigger on a Frank Clark trade.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are one of the Chiefs’ toughest competitors and are going to be constantly searching for an edge on the Chiefs. That could stem from making a trade to acquire a pass rusher like Clark. Why would they do that? We’ll let’s not forget that the Ravens lost Matthew Judon to the Patriots in free agency a year ago.

Before you ask, yes, the Ravens do have the money to take on his contract. The question that needs to be asked is what the Chiefs could get in return? That much is unclear, but it wouldn’t be much since the Chiefs would be freeing themselves of such a financial burden.

Cincinnati Bengals

Similar to the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals are in win-now mode and are going to continue striving for greatness until the day that Joe Burrow is no longer their quarterback. That means finding ways to continue growing and expanding upon their current roster.

With the Bengals’ defense being rather average during most of their games, they could definitely look to improve their defense. Clark shows similarities to previous pass rushers that they’ve brought in and I don’t doubt they’d do it again.

The Bengals have brought in a lot of players over the course of the last couple of years and within that is a pattern. The Bengals tend to go after players that are high upside players that they can coach up and turn into elite players. Now, how many of those players have actually ended up converting to be top-tier players? Not many. But, Clark does fit that category.

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins is an interesting team but I do think that the Dolphins would hear offers involving Clark.

The Dolphins recently fired Brian Flores after finding a way to win seven straight games to finish the season. Despite firing their head coach, the Dolphins aren’t to be taken for granted. They are a dangerous team that’s missing a couple of pieces. One of those pieces is a pass rusher.

With the Dolphins currently having the second-most cap space in the NFL, they could look to use some of that money to bring in new talent and fill some of those holes including at pass rusher. Without Flores as their head coach, it’s hard to gauge what they are going to try and do this offseason but Clark could solidify things for a young core along the defensive line.

Restructure His Contract

With the lack of production over the course of the past couple of seasons, Clark’s trade value has decreased. Therefore, if the Chiefs are going to try and find a suitor for Clark, the return would not be great. Which leaves us with limited options. The last option I think the Chiefs have is to try and restructure his contract.

Now, do I think this is realistic? No,not really. I think that he is going to make his money while he can, but who knows? Anything is possible.  If the Kansas City Chiefs were to restructure his contract, it would cost the Chiefs $1.5M, but it’s a whole lot cheaper than cutting him and dealing with the dead cap.

If the Chiefs chose to extend him and restructure his contract then the Chiefs would be able to pay him at a reasonable salary, or maybe find more teams interested in acquiring the defensive end.

Conclusion

The Chiefs are in quite a bind and getting out of it won’t be easy. The only certainty we know is that this offseason will be incredibly busy for Brett Veach and the rest of the entire front office.