William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly on the verge of losing a key player on their Super Bowl winning roster.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, star defensive end Frank Clark is expected to be at the Chiefs’ NFL Scouting Combine last week. The team and his agent, Erik Burkhardt, were released after they “couldn’t find common ground on a reformulated deal in several conversations.”
Kansas City general manager Brett Widget told The Athletic’s Nate Taylor last week that the team will block defenses for Clark and the Stars. Forward Chris Jones explores new deal. At the time, he was optimistic about his chances of keeping both of them.
“The good thing for us is that we have these strong ties with these players who have been here for a long time, ’” Veitch said of Jones and Clark. “They love being here. It’s a great place to start for us. The relationship we have with these players, and our long track record with them, has helped us buy more time.”
Releasing Clark saved Kansas City $21 million in cap space, even though the team would take a $7.6 million hit in dead money.
The 9-year veteran had a solid playoff run, helping the Chiefs win Super Bowl LVII Completed 2.5 sacks and 4 quarterback hits. Clark played in 15 games during the regular season and recorded 39 total tackles, five sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. According to Taylor, Veach “emphasized that the Chiefs will compete on the open market to re-sign Clark” if he is released, So it’s possible he’s here to stay this offseason. However, a player of his caliber is likely to draw a lot of attention on the open market, giving Kansas City some competition for him.
