Chuck Clark isn’t going anywhere. On Monday, the Ravens announced the signing of a three-year extension for their safety. 
“Chuck is a great story about hard work, patience, preparation and passion,” Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said in a statement. “He waited for his chance and seized the opportunity. Chuck’s a good football player, a fine teammate and a respected leader. He’s the type of player we want on our defense for a long time. Congrats to Chuck and his family.”
Clark, 24, enjoyed a breakout season in 2019. After starting the year as a reserve, he cracked the starting lineup in Week 6 and delivered impressive performances throughout the second half of the year. All in all, he logged 68 tackles, one sack, one interception, and nine passes defensed across 16 games (12 starts).
Before the extension, Clark was set to play out the final year of his rookie deal in 2020. After the former sixth-round pick earns a modest salary for the 2020 season, he’ll see a significant step up – he’ll make $15.3MM over the course of the additional three years, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter) hears. Including the ’20 season, the Ravens have him for four years and $16MM, Schefter hears. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears that the three additional deals are actually worth $19MM with $10MM in guarantees (the $19MM figure may include incentives; it’s not yet clear whether the $10MM figure represents full guarantees at signing.)
Given Clark’s status as a starting safety, this profiles as a very team-friendly deal for the Ravens. Clark won’t turn 25 until April and the Ravens have locked him down through most of his prime years at a very reasonable rate. Meanwhile, Clark has secured his financial future with the deal in exchange for sacrificing open market upside.
With Clark in the starting lineup, the Ravens boasted the league’s best defense from Week 7 onward. They’ll look to keep the momentum going with several key secondary players signed for multiple seasons – cornerback Marcus Peters and nickel corner Tavon Young are under contract through 2022 thanks to their extensions last year.
Great re-sign. Unfortunately this probably means the end of Tony Jefferson’s time with the team.
Yea but that’s fine. It frees up money plus Clark did enough to prove he should be a starter.
Tony was out of the picture regardless. Good for Chuck.