The Packers have agreed to a four-year, $70MM extension with Kenny Clark (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of NFL.com). The nose tackle will receive a $25MM signing bonus and he’ll earn $37MM over the first two years of the deal. 
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Before, Clark was due $7.69MM in the walk year of his rookie contract. The re-up makes Clark the 12th-highest paid defensive player in the NFL. It’s more money than some expected for Clark, but he made a strong case by registering 12 sacks over the past two seasons. At the age of 24 (25 in October), he’s one of the game’s better interior defenders, and he now has a deal to reflect his status.
His performance is even more impressive when considering that he was slowed by an elbow injury in 2018. Despite the early end to his season, Clark graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 9 ranked interior lineman that year while posting 55 total tackles. This past year, he had a perfect attendance card and set a new career high in stops (62).
Clark’s deal marks yet another major Packers investment in defensive talent. After shelling out big bucks for edge rushers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, giving safety Adrian Amos a $9MM-per-year contract deal, and drafting two Round 1 defenders, they’ve shored up the middle with Clark.
Bahktiari next, then Jones.
Name of the day? Kenny Frick’n Clark
The name of day thing is getting old, it was 1 person doing it and that was ok. But now everybody is doing it.
Because PapiElph is a dope. I was making fun of him.
Chris jones > Clark. Not even close. I’d like to see Clark disrupt more on a consistent basis
Dudes only 24…
That’s a lot of money for a good, not great player. Their run defense was bad even with him out there.
The Packers were in a really tough spot. On one hand, Clark is certainly not the 12th best defender in the league and not even the best among nose tackles. He’s talented, no doubt, but not dominating by any means.
That said, the Packers defensive line would be in horrific shape without him. Lowry is just mediocre, while Lancaster and Adams are dreadful. Clark obviously has more importance to Green Bay than other teams. Imagine how bad the run defense would be without him
Overall, it shouldn’t cripple their team too badly from a financial standpoint and they retained a key player. Hopefully he can keep his weight under control and Green Bay surrounds him with better cohorts
What about the receiving corp? When are they going to spend money on it?