Frank Clark and the Chiefs Options

by Laddie Morse

Frank Clark was charged for a second time in three months with carrying a concealed weapon on Sunday evening at 9:20 PM. This time, just south of downtown Los Angeles, where he’s from. A Los Angeles Police Department Information Officer, Tony Im stated, “Officers noticed a bag with an Uzi sticking out” in plain sight in the car.” In March, Clark was arrested in California, as was another man, Charles Smith, on a gun charge, at a traffic stop for the same reason.

This charge qualifies as a felony illegal possession of a firearm.

Clark was booked into the Los Angeles County jail… presumably spent the night there… then posted a $35,000 bond and was released on Monday afternoon. Daily Mail, covering this story, shared the following picture of a Uzi similar to the one Clark was arrested with, which is a submachine gun capable of 600 rounds per minute and often made in Israel.

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Alex Spiro, Frank Clark’s attorney, has indicated that the Uzi belonged to his bodyguard. The name of Clark’s bodyguard is unknown at this time. The NFL, per usual, is putting the decision about what to do about Clark, off to the future. Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesperson said about this incident, “We are aware of the matter which will be reviewed under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.”

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The NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy says, in part,

“Prohibited conduct includes but is not limited to the following: Actual or threatened physical violence against another person, including dating violence, domestic violence, child abuse, and other forms of family violence;”

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It’s goes on to include:

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“Illegal possession of a gun or other weapon (such as explosives, toxic substances, and the like), or possession of a gun or other weapon in any workplace setting;”

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Attempting to sort out what the NFL will do is like chasing your tail. Some have suggested that Clark may end up receiving a four-game suspension. Who know for sure?!

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Chiefs Options

Projecting what Chiefs chairman and CEO, Clark Hunt, will do is another matter. In the case of RB Kareem Hunt, who had lied to the Chiefs and broken trust, it meant the end of their relationship. Almost any other sin against the Pope… err, I mean, the Team… has been allowable. I won’t get into those past sticky situations with other players, but it seems Clark Hunt has come to defer to Andy Reid in these cases, as they like to deal with each player directly, and personally.

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What will end up concerning most Chiefs fans is: what are the Chiefs options at DE? Beyond the possibility that Frank Clark is moved off the team — either by release, trade, or whatever — replacing him will be extremely tough. Why? Take a look at where K.C. is at with his salary. In 2019, two years ago,

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Clark signed a 5-year, $104,000,000 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including a $19,000,000 signing bonus, $62,305,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $20,800,000.

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From Sportrac.com offers this about Clark’s salary the next three years:

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  • Clark’s Cap Hit this year is $25.8M with a Dead Cap hit of $37.85M.
  • Clark’s Cap Hit in 2022 is $26.3M with a Dead Cap hit of $12.9M.
  • In 2023, Clark’s Cap Hit is $27.8M with a Dead Cap hit of $6.45M.

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If K.C. can somehow make it through this year with Clark at DE, they can cut him next offseason and possibly live with a $12.9M Dead Cap hit. This year, it’s just impossible with a $37.85M Dead Cap number. Impossible, unless Clark has broken the verbiage of his contract, and the Chiefs decide they want to part ways with him, all of which we don’t know about right now.

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Beyond the numbers and the Salary, the question is, would the Chiefs be able to find anyone else to replace him this season if he can’t go, whether that’s for four games, or for 17+. Let’s take a look at those possibilities.

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Melvin Ingram

We know that Free Agent DE Melvin Ingram has visited K.C. this offseason, but they came to no agreement. Presumably, Ingram is waiting to be offered what he expects in financial recompense. Perhaps he figures he’ll get a call from a team in dire need at some point. Is K.C. that team? Not yet, it would seem. 14 sacks over the past three season with zero sacks last year, may also have something to do with why he’s still a Free Agent. However, I’d like to see Ingram signed here whether Clark is around or not.

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Justin Houston

Houston was allowed to walk at the same time Steve Spagnuolo came to K.C., also meaning that when Bob Sutton was fired. Houston had become a compatriot of often terse CB Marcus Peters and at times found himself at odds with the Chiefs coaches. Some say he has burned his bridges here in K.C., but he had 11.0 sacks in 2019 in Indianapolis, then followed that up with 8.0 sacks last year. Although the Colts have moved on from Justin, he’s the same age as Ingram, but is much more productive. If Spagnuolo could work with him, he could end up being a timely deal for the Chiefs. Some have been calling for Houston’s return, prior to Clark’s debacle.

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Olivier Vernon

Over the past three season, Vernon has 19.5 sacks and 9.0 of those came in 2020. At 30 years old, he could be a fitting rotational DE, but I’m not sure he’d be anything more than that. Most teams appear to be going with a youth movement, especially when it comes to DEs, so Vernon finds himself on the unemployed list, for now. His 6-foot-2, height may be problematic for Spags, as he likes his DEs to be a little bit bigger than that. However, as 262 lbs. he may make up for it in girth.

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Already On the Roster

If for some reason Frank Clark can’t play this year, I’d expect to see Chris Jones almost full time at the defensive end position. With possibly the best position on the roster being the defensive tackle position, that’s not a bad trade off. However, as David Bell often reminds me, Chris Jones has been stellar at the DT position, so why on earth would you want to move him from there? Great point.

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Taco Charlton has been relegated to the second string DE designation merely because of all the talk about moving Stone Cold to the DE position this offseason. Charlton is a player I’ve been hoping would breakout this year. However, as a support player, he’s not someone who should be relied upon heavily.

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Mike Danna is in his second year, but he’s mainly been a run stopper because he usually sets the edge well. He may have had 2.5 sacks last year on only 31% of the defensive snaps, but he’s smaller than someone like Olivier Vernon, so I doubt he gets the call.

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Joshua Kaindoh was a wonderful draft pick, especially at #144. However, he’s a rookie with developmental needs. It’s far too soon to rely on him.

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Tim Ward out of Old Dominion is someone intriguing, who the Chiefs might go to if Clark is a no-go. At 6-foot-5 and 255 lbs. Ward brings speed and strength to the DE position. Brett Veach once called Ward, “a prototypical Steve Spagnuolo defensive end” and Chiefs area scout Mike Davis who was visiting Old Dominion to scout another defensive end, also said of him,

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“… they’ve got this other defensive end and he’s raw as all get-out, started playing football late. You may not see him this year, but we’re going to take our time with his rehab, we’re not going to rush him, and he could be a guy that could really develop and be a player in the future.”

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Ward had ACL surgery after injuring his knee in November of 2018, then was a UDFA for K.C. in the Spring of 2019 and has been developing ever since. Here’s Daniel Harms on RGR Football breaking down Tim Wards first sack as a pro last year in week 17 game versus the Chargers when most of the Chiefs starters sat:

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While this is not a promotional piece for Tim Ward, there are others who like him, and if by some chance the Chiefs need to fill in a blank spot on the defensive line this year, they do have choices. Ward is a great example of that.

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Although it’s speculated that Frank Clark will be kept away from the media in the coming months, there’s no way he’ll be kept from media scrutiny. As long as he hasn’t hurt anyone, or threatened anyone, let’s let him play, and hopefully he’ll get his life cleaned up, as much as it needs cleaning up. As Ryan Tracy stated on Monday, “I don’t think he’s (referring to Frank Clark) going to be cut any time soon,” so we can back off of that question. Lastly, it doesn’t really matter what I think of him, because for now, he’s a Chief.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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