He’s back: The Seahawks are signing free agent pass rusher Frank Clark. Here’s why.
Nobody in the NFL knows Frank Clark better than Pete Carroll and the Seahawks.
They are signing him back.
An NFL source told The News Tribune Wednesday Clark, Seattle’s controversial second-round draft choice in 2015 when other teams thought he was to troubled to take, is expected to sign with the Seahawks pending him passing a routine, free-agent physical exam.
By noon, coach Pete Carroll confirmed the 30-year-old edge rusher was on his way to Seattle to sign, without a workout.
Carroll said he expects Clark to play Sunday when the Seahawks (4-2) host the Cleveland Browns (4-2) at Lumen Field.
“It’s very similar (to Clark’s role in Seattle in his previous stint) and Clint (Hurtt) feels really comfortable about being able to make this a really quick transition to get him in position to play,” Carroll said, referring to Seahawks defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, Clark’s old D-line coach with Seattle.
“His energetic nature, he’s really a terrific effort guy, explosive, big play, brought a lot of juice to the club and all. There’s a lot of positive things that we have. I know he’s all fired up and ready (and) we’re remembering the good stuff and wanting to make sure that he’s got a chance to help us.”
The move comes with Seattle’s top pass rusher Uchenna Nwosu headed to surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle he got in the team’s win over Arizona last weekend. Coach Pete Carroll said Monday and again Wednesday that surgery will end Nwosu’s season.
“There was a spot there that we had a shot with Frank, and having a background and history with him,” Carroll said. “It’s a natural spot for him to play with us (as edge rusher). We will see if he can get in the rotation and help us out.”
Carroll said Clark will initially join rookie Derick Hall and potentially Tyreke Smith, the 2022 draft choice on the practice squad, in playing outside linebacker opposite starter Boye Mafe.
Clark had 35 sacks in four seasons with the Seahawks (2015-18). Those were his first four in the NFL after Michigan suspended him from his final college season following his arrest in Ohio on a domestic violence charge.
“I am going to make you proud,” Clark said to Seahawks fans and the franchise upon Seattle drafting him.
And he mostly did. He had a 13-sack season with Seattle in 2018.
When he and the team couldn’t agree on a rich, new contract in the spring of 2019, Carroll and Seahawks general manager John Schneider traded Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City signed Clark to a five-year, $105.5 million contract with $63.5 million guaranteed.
He won a Super Bowl and made three Pro Bowl teams with them, from 2019-21.
Clark didn’t last through the end of his contract with the Chiefs. They released him following last season, after he had 4 1/2 sacks in 2021 and five in 2022.
The Denver Broncos released him this month after he played two games for them.
Clark was Seattle’s top draft choice in 2015 out of Michigan. The Seahawks selected him months after the arrest that took him off some teams’ draft boards.
He grew up in search of next meals as a kid in the notorious Baldwin Village section of Los Angeles. Carroll used to walk that neighborhood when he was coach at USC leading his A Better LA philanthropic organization.
Clark matured and flourished in Seattle, including as a father of a young daughter born in Bellevue early in his NFL career. He and Jarran Reed, who also returned to the Seahawks’ defensive line this year after two seasons away, became great friends. Reed said Wednesday he’d been lobbying Carroll and Schneider every chance he got to bring back Clark. Reed said he’d been talking nonstop Wednesday after he got his deal with Seattle.
“Frank grew up with us,” Carroll said. “It was a good process to see him come into the league and come in to being a young man and we had him for a lot of years there. It’s rewarding, he goes and wins a world championship at a place and has a lot of success and does good stuff.
“And then we get a chance to get him on the other end his career to see if he can come help us out some. It’s a good thing. It’s a really positive thing.”
Clark and Reed each had double-digit sacks in 2018 playing next to each other for Seattle. Then Clark grew too rich in market value for the Seahawks to keep.
His deal to return is likely much more on Seattle’s terms, not Clark’s. It’s likely a prorated veteran minimum salary for the final 11 games of this regular season, with performance bonuses for sacks and games played.
Carroll credited Schneider for acting decisively to get Clark’s deal done amid competition around the league. There were reports the Chiefs were interested in signing him back, too.
This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 10:57 AM.
