KC Chiefs: Bringing back Frank Clark is easier said than done

From the moment the Kansas City Chiefs released Frank Clark prior to 2023 NFL free agency, there were talks of him potentially returning. Talks have heated up as a lot of veteran free agents tend to come off the board around this time after the draft is complete and their price comes down or teams get desperate to fill a need that they weren’t able to.

Nonetheless, Clark remains a free agent with a return to Kansas City still being a possibility. The idea has only gained more steam as Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris Jones has been asking for the team to bring back Clark on Twitter.

While bringing back the two-time Super Bowl champion seems like a no-brainer to some, it’s not as simple as bringing him back on a cheap deal in which everyone is happy. There are actually quite a few hurdles that would have to be cleared for the two sides to reunite.

The financial hurdles to bring back Frank Clark

First, when the Chiefs initially made the decision to cut Frank Clark this offseason, they ultimately owed him over $7 million in dead cap. So, even with Clark not being on the team right now the Chiefs are still paying him quite a bit of money just not being on the team. To give him another contract on top of it would be a little bit of a financial burden.

Some may be asking why a minimum contract wouldn’t be doable, but as things stand, the Chiefs only have $2.4 million in cap space according to Spotrac, and they haven’t signed their rookie class yet, so an extremely cheap contract for Clark would still be a reach unless Kansas City makes a significant move to free up money in the near future.

Additionally, if it was as simple as signing Clark to a cheap contract, he’d probably still be on the team. The entire reason he was released in the first place was because the Chiefs and Clark couldn’t come to an agreement on a restructure. Would he come back on a veteran’s minimum after turning down a pay cut to stay?

Maybe his price has come down this late in free agency and that could push something to get done, but as much as the Chiefs and Clark may want each other, Clark probably has several other suitors and interest from teams who feel like they’re missing am EDGE defender that brings what he does.

The positional hurdles to bring back Frank Clark

Second, The Chiefs invested quite a bit into their defensive end position this offseason with the signing of Charles Omenihu and they spent a first round pick on rookie Felix Anudike-Uzomah and another pick on B.J. Thompson. Not to mention second-year EDGE George Karlaftis will probably be taking on a bigger role next season.

Omenihu kind of felt like the Clark replacement, so do you really want to bring Clark back and have him create a little bit of a logjam or hold your young guys back? Most would probably agree that Clark would be best suited as a rotational EDGE but that doesn’t mean Clark wants to be in that role as a guy who has started his entire tenure in Kansas City.

Clark has played an average of 72% of the team’s defensive snaps in four seasons with Kansas City. If Clark were to return, he simply can’t be playing that much with the investments you’ve made. He would have to find a different way to fit in. Would he agree to that? Could he deal with a drastic drop in snaps? And once again, there might be teams more desperate that could offer him a bigger role than that along with more money.

In a perfect world, Clark would be a good veteran to bring back who plays about a third of the snaps and provides some leadership for the younger guys. However, given the Chiefs’ cap situation and the kind of guy that Clark is and the market he might be demanding, a lot would have to change in order for the two sides to figure something out.