The Packers spent much of the offseason retooling their defensive front. The team signed several free agents and also used the 12th overall selection in last week's draft on Michigan's Rashan Gary. The latest step in that process is taking care of their own.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Packers are picking up the fifth-year option for defensive lineman Kenny Clark.
The Packers have exercised the 2020 fifth year option on DL Kenny Clark, per source. He’s emerged as a force for Green Bay.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 1, 2019
This move was expected after General Manager Brian Gutekunst referred to Clark as “a dominant player” prior to the draft. The Packers spent heavily in free agency on pass-rushers Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith, in addition to Gary. Having a stout presence like Clark inside will only help those new faces.
Although it was largely forgettable, the Packers’ 2018 season will be remembered as the year Kenny Clark arrived as one of the NFL’s top young defensive tackles.
After breaking through with 4½ sacks during the final month of the 2017 campaign, the former first-round draft choice picked right up where he left off in his third NFL season.
Clark racked up 55 tackles and six sacks, the second most on Green Bay’s defense, on his way to being named a Pro Bowl alternate. His 36 QB hurries tied for seventh among NFL interior defensive linemen, according to Pro Football Focus.
Those totals likely would’ve been a little higher had it not been for a late-season elbow injury that cost him the final three games.
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