Veteran defensive end Frank Clark and the Denver Broncos reached a deal Thursday to restructure the pass rusher’s contract, paving the way for a trade before the October 31 NFL trade deadline with a team like the Miami Dolphins or Detroit Lions.
The two-time Super Bowl champion defensive end/outside linebacker has played just two games and recorded two tackles for the Broncos after the team signed him from their AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs this offseason. Despite the lack of production through five games, Clark is still a valuable defensive player with 58.5 career sacks who can still get after opposing quarterbacks.
After giving Randy Gregory away for next to nothing (a sixth/seventh-round pick swap) to the San Francisco 49ers, it stands to reason that a team can get a pretty sweet deal on Clark now, too. If a contender can make a Frank Clark trade for just cents on the dollar, teams like the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and even the Chiefs should strongly consider it.
Here are the four best Frank Clark destinations before the NFL trade deadline.
4. Kansas City Chiefs
The Broncos could make a Frank Clark trade that sends the pass rusher back to his old team. The Chiefs didn’t want to re-sign Clark because of the money he would command and because they had a stable of you pass rushers who they wanted to give a chance to.
After five games, Kansas City is in the middle of the pack in the NFL with 13 sacks. Mike Danna has 3.5 sacks so far and George Karaloftis has 2.5. No other defensive end, including 2023 first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah, has more than 0.5 sacks on the year. Plus, both Danna and Karalaftis are dealing with injuries.
Clark knows the Chiefs system, fits well with star defensive tackle Chris Jones, and the team now knows it will only be on the hook for a prorated part of his new $841,000 minimum base salary after the DE agreed to reduce his initial $3.5 million base salary.
Denver shouldn’t mind sending Clark within the division this year either, as it is only for the rest of 2023, and the Broncos season is basically over. Taking a draft pick from the Chiefs is about as big a win as Sean Payton and company can get at this point.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars struggled early in the season, but after back-to-back wins in London, the team is 3-2 and right back in the mix, especially in the competitive (mediocre?) AFC South. Through five games, the team has just nine sacks, which is the sixth-worst production in the NFL.
Linebacker Josh Allen is still among the league’s most unheralded sack masters, putting up 6.0 QB takedowns in five games. After that, though, it gets a little bleak. The top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Travon Walker, has just 2.0 sacks and OLB K'Lavon Chaisson is at 1.0.
Bringing in Clark would bolster the pass-rush rotation and even allow the Jaguars to get a little more creative with Walker, moving the 6-foot-5, 272-pound defender inside at times to maximize the team’s rush.
If the Jaguars can start getting more pressure on the quarterback, the 20th-ranked defense should be better and help Trevor Lawrence and the offense out a lot.
2. Miami Dolphins
Last season, the Dolphins sent a first-round pick and then some to the Broncos in a Bradley Chubb trade. Chubb has disappointed overall, putting up just 2.5 sacks in eight games last season and 1.0 through five this year.
That shouldn’t scare the Dolphins away from making a deal for Clark, though.
Miami may be the best team in the AFC right now, especially after the Buffalo Bills lost Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, and DaQuan Jones (likely) for the season in the last two weeks.
The defense is already good. The team is seventh in points allowed and T-3 in sacks with 17. Still, to be a true Super Bowl contender, you can never have enough defensive depth or special players. A Frank Clark trade could help vault the defense to the next level.
1. Detroit Lions
The best Broncos’ Frank Clark deal ahead of the 2023 NFL trade deadline would be to send the DE to the Lions. Detroit is one of the biggest first-half success stories of the young season. At 4-1, they are running away from the NFC North, and the team looks scary on both sides of the ball.
That said, the defense can still rush the passer better. Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 pick in 2022 behind Walker, is turning into a star. He has 4.5 of the Lions’ 14 sacks so far.
However, on the opposite end of the defensive line no Lions player is stepping up yet. The only other defenders on the roster with multiple sacks this season are DT Alim McNeil (2.0) and DE Charles Harris (1.5).
Detroit has some good things going on defense right now and some young pass rushers who could come on as the year continues. Adding Clark as a third-down pass-rushing specialist, though, could take the unit to the next level.
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