Seahawks & DE Frank Clark Have Discussed Extension, Clark In No Hurry To Do A Deal

Erik Burkhardt, the agent for Seahawks DE Frank Clark, says he’s had “several very productive and positive talks” with Seattle about his client, who would love to be back with the team next year.

“I have had several very productive and positive talks with the Seahawks,” Burkhardt said, via ESPN.com. “Frank loves it there and believes they’ll continue to produce as one of the NFL’s dominant defenses even with the departure of many great players. … Seattle has been very good to him. They’ve believed in him from the beginning and they’ve continued to help develop him.”

However, Burkhardt makes it clear that they’re in no rush to do a deal and are comfortable with him playing out the season under his current deal.

“But the financial goal for players in every major sport now is to get to free agency,” Burkhardt said. “It often baffles me how some of these agents do early deals just for the sake of doing a deal. I know that it’s football and injury risks are very real, but there’s insurance policies to protect players’ downsides and risks, along with other measures that we put in place to protect our guys. Just to do an early deal for the sake of doing an early deal doesn’t excite us, especially for a guy like Frank who’s already a dominant pass-rusher in this league and is just scratching the surface of what he will be.”

Burkhardt mentioned that he believes his client is in the same discussion with some of the top pass rushers in the league.

“I do think Frank Clark is every bit as good of a pass-rusher as Mack, Jadeveon Clowney, Demarcus Lawrence, Ezekiel Ansah or anybody else at the top, and that’s not taking anything away from those guys,” Burkhardt said. “The metrics and analytics bear that out on a per-snap basis. I’ve spoken to many offensive lineman around the league who will tell you the same thing.”

As for the franchise tag, Burkhardt made it clear that they’re fine going that route if need be.

“Frank and I are not scared of the franchise tag,” Burkhardt said. “That’s going to come in at about $18 million next year for a D-end on a one-year, fully guaranteed deal. It’s what Ansah and Lawrence have done. They get that top-of-the-market value for one year, and 12 months later will get their long-term deal as well. That’s winning.”

Clark, 25, is a former second-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2015. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $3.732 million contract and set to make a base salary of $705,000 for the 2018 season.

Clark will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career in 2019.

In 2018, Clark has appeared in six games for the Seahawks and recorded 14 tackles, 5.5 sacks, one interception, three forced fumbles and a pass defense.

We have him featured in our Top 25 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.