Chuck Clark

Jets S Chuck Clark In Line For Starting Role

June 27th, 2024 at 8:58am CST by Adam La Rose

Last offseason, the Jets acquired Chuck Clark via trade but he was sidelined for the entire year due to an ACL tear. The veteran safety was re-signed in March, though, allowing him to compete for a starting role.

The free agent departure of Jordan Whitehead created a first-team vacancy at the safety position, and New York held an open competition between Clark, Tony Adams and Ashtyn Davis during the spring. One of the latter two will also hold down a starting spot, but Clark is on track to log full-time defensive duties in 2024. The 29-year-old is firmly in the lead atop the depth chart entering training camp, Brian Costello of the New York Post writes.

Clark was expected to log significant defensive snaps (in addition to a large special teams workload) upon arrival last year, but his ACL tear occurred during OTAs. That injury – the first major one of his career – limited his market value, and it came as no surprise when he took a low-cost deal to remain in New York. The former sixth-rounder inked a one-year, $2MM pact to play for the Jets in 2024.

Adams took on a first-team role in Clark’s absence during the 2023 campaign. While he collected three interceptions and five pass deflections across 15 games, Costello notes some within the organization sought better consistency from the former UDFA. Adams, 25, held down a first-team role during the spring and as such he should be expected to handle a heavy workload again this season.

Costello adds that Davis could still unseat Clark for a first-team spot, and like all other positions training camp could lead to changes on the depth chart. Still, the latter is a veteran of 63 starts, and he was a mainstay on the backend for the Ravens from 2019-22. Davis (who re-signed on a one-year deal in April) has made 21 starts in his career, but only five of those have come in the past two seasons. He should still be in line for a rotational defensive workload and a key special teams role even if Clark stays ahead of him in the race for a starting spot.

Latest On Jets’ Depth At Safety

May 22nd, 2024 at 9:04pm CST by Ben Levine

The Jets will have a trio of players compete for their two starting safety spots. Coach Robert Saleh told reporters (including ESPN’s Rich Cimini) that the Jets will have an open competition at the position, with Chuck Clark, Tony Adams, and Ashtyn Davis competing for the two starting roles.

With two-year starter Jordan Whitehead having returned to Tampa Bay, there is some uncertainty atop the positional depth chart. Adams got the longest look of the trio in 2023, having started all 15 of his appearances while compiling 82 tackles and three interceptions. However, Pro Football Focus only ranked him as a middle-of-the-road safety (41st among 95 qualifiers), and the former UDFA doesn’t have the resume to justify a definitive starting nod.

Davis saw a progressively larger role as the 2023 season went on, and while he didn’t earn enough snaps to qualify for PFF’s leader board, he would have graded out as a top-20 safety. The former third-round pick has seen an inconsistent role through his first four seasons in the NFL, starting 21 of his 54 appearances in New York. However, he’s become a favorite of Saleh, and the team showed some trust in the defensive back when they re-signed him this offseason.

“It is funny, all Ashtyn does is find the ball,” Saleh said last season (via the team’s website). “I am a big fan of his. He has done nothing but work. He was a valuable and very underrated piece of this defense. The way he goes about his business and the way he works, that play embodies everything that he represents for this defense.”

Clark is the true wildcard, as the veteran is coming off a torn ACL that ended his 2023 season before it began. Clark was a consistent starter during his final few years in Baltimore, and while the Jets didn’t give up a whole lot to acquire the veteran last offseason, they were still counting on the former 100-tackle defender to lead their safeties room.

The Jets will also be welcoming a new player to the position grouping. According to Brian Costello of the New York Post, Isaiah Oliver is moving to the safeties room. After spending the first five seasons of his career in Atlanta, Oliver spent the 2023 campaign in San Francisco, serving as the 49ers’ nickelback. He started six of his 17 appearances, finishing with 67 tackles and one interception. He’ll be competing with the likes of 2023 sixth-round pick Jarrick Bernard-Converse and 2024 seventh-round pick Jaylen Key for one of the final spots on the depth chart.

Jets Re-Sign S Chuck Clark

March 10th, 2024 at 11:17am CST by Rory Parks

The Jets will bring back safety Chuck Clark on a one-year contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. New York acquired Clark from the Ravens last March, sending a seventh-rounder back to Baltimore in the trade.

Unfortunately, Clark suffered a torn ACL during OTAs in June, thereby ending his first Jets season before it started. Obviously, Gang Green is comfortable with Clark’s recovery, and as fellow safeties Jordan Whitehead and Ashtyn Davis are also out of contract, retaining Clark on what is surely a modest deal makes plenty of sense.

As we heard earlier this week, Whitehead appears unlikely to return to the team, leaving Clark as the likely starter at strong safety and Tony Adams as his running mate at free safety. Although Clark is not a world-beater, he was a regular starter for the Ravens from 2019-22 and only became expendable once Baltimore authorized a high-end free agent contract for Marcus Williams in 2022 and selected Kyle Hamilton in the first round of that year’s draft. Even after those acquisitions, the Ravens retained Clark for the 2022 campaign, underscoring his value to the club.

Over his final two years with the Ravens, Clark earned high marks from Pro Football Focus for his work in run defense. While his coverage grades were not as strong, they were at least passable, and with the Jets likely to deploy him close to line of scrimmage on most snaps, his limitations in the passing game will be mitigated to some degree.

Until his ACL tear, Clark had proven himself to be a highly durable player, having missed one game due to injury to that point in his career. The Jets will hope the 2017 sixth-rounder, who turns 29 next month, can turn in a healthy campaign while offering stability on the back end of their defense.

Jets Place Chuck Clark On IR, Stash Breece Hall On Active/PUP List

July 19th, 2023 at 4:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Chuck Clark will not make a late-season comeback for the Jets. After suffering an ACL tear in June, Clark landed on the Jets’ injured reserve list Wednesday.

Since the Jets are not carrying Clark over to their 53-man roster, this IR move will end his season. It would have represented a long shot for the veteran safety to return this year anyway, and this transaction buries that notion. The Jets also placed receiver/returner hopeful Diontae Spencer on IR.

The Jets traded for Clark, 28, in March and were preparing to use him as a full-time player alongside Jordan Whitehead. Clark’s knee injury prompted the team to bring in yet another ex-Packer, Adrian Amos, to fill that role. Amos had received interest from the Ravens, visiting his hometown team twice. But the Jets suddenly having a clear need helped them land the eight-year starter.

Upon acquiring Clark, the Jets took on his three-year, $15.3MM Ravens contract. Only one season remained on the deal, and rather than the former Baltimore starter playing his way into a nice Jets extension, a trip to free agency coming off a severe injury may be in the cards.

Gang Green also placed Breece Hall on its active/PUP list. Unlike the reserve/PUP list, this is a training camp-only designation. Players can be removed from the active/PUP list at any point during camp. The Jets also placed Randall Cobb, C.J. Uzomah and defensive back Jarrick Bernard-Converse on the active/PUP list.

Hall suffered a torn ACL in October of last year, but the Jets have maintained the second-year running back will be ready for Week 1. A delayed start to camp will be part of the former second-rounder’s ramp-up period. New York has been connected to Dalvin Cook for an extended stretch, with Hall’s recovery likely a factor in the team’s pursuit of the accomplished ex-Viking. The Dolphins and Patriots are also interested in Cook, though New England worked out two more affordable options — Leonard Fournette and Darrell Henderson — on Wednesday.

Jets S Chuck Clark Suffers Torn ACL

June 22nd, 2023 at 10:25am CST by Sam Robinson

JUNE 22: As feared, Clark has indeed suffered a torn ACL (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). The news represents the worst-case scenario for team and player, given Clark’s sterling track record of durability (having logged a 100% snap share in each of the past three seasons) and his contract status. The Jets will need to rely heavily on Amos and their other safety options in 2023, a season in which expectations are high for their defense in particular and the team in general.

JUNE 13: The Jets’ Adrian Amos acquisition makes a bit more sense now. Chuck Clark suffered a knee injury, one Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic reports is feared to be serious (Twitter link).

Clark plans to seek a second opinion, per SNY’s Connor Hughes adds (via Twitter), but this is obviously a concerning situation. The team was not in on Amos until recently, with the Ravens leading the way for a while. Although Amos made a second Ravens visit Monday, the Jets came in with a stronger offer. That proposal may soon lead to a starting opportunity.

The Jets are concerned this is a season-nullifying injury, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reports (on Twitter), noting ACL damage is feared. An ACL tear would almost definitely knock out Clark, 28, for the season, though it is not known if a tear has occurred. This would represent brutal timing for Clark, who remains attached to the three-year, $15.1MM the Ravens gave him in 2020. That contract expires after the 2023 season. Missing the year would crush Clark’s chances of creating a nice market in 2024.

The chance to start in New York sold Amos over a deal with his hometown team, per Rosenblatt. Amos has worked as a starter throughout his eight-year career. He profiles as a quality replacement option, especially in June, but Clark was expected to play a big role for the Jets.

After the Ravens made two big investments at safety in the spring of 2022 — signing Marcus Williams drafting Kyle Hamilton in Round 1 — Clark emerged in trade rumors. While the Ravens held onto the veteran defender for another season, they pulled the trigger on a deal in March. Baltimore traded Clark to New York for just a 2024 seventh-round pick.

A former sixth-round pick, Clark worked as a primary Ravens starter over the past four seasons. Teaming with a host of big safety additions (Williams, Hamilton, Earl Thomas, Tony Jefferson, Eric Weddle) during his six-year Baltimore career, Clark had been ticketed for a full-time Jets role. The Virginia Tech product voiced frustration about his final stretch in Baltimore but may not begin his Jets tenure on time.

This injury leading to missed time would be a first for Clark, who has missed all of one game during his six-year career. The Ravens used extensive three-safety looks during Clark’s time, and he helped the team as Williams missed much of last season. Clark topped 100 tackles for the first time as a pro last year, totaling 101.

Amos’ arrival offers the Jets some protection. The team rosters Jordan Whitehead, a former Buccaneers Super Bowl starter who started all games for Robert Saleh‘s team last season, in place as its other first-string safety. In Amos, the Jets have a player who started four seasons with the Bears and the past four with the Packers. The 30-year-old defender has made 122 career starts; he has not missed a game since the 2017 season.

Ravens Were Willing To Extend S Chuck Clark In 2022

May 27th, 2023 at 9:40pm CST by Adam La Rose

Things changed significantly for the Ravens at the safety position during the 2022 offseason. One of the results of their moves made on the backend was veteran Chuck Clark being traded at the start of the 2023 league year.

Clark, a 2017 sixth-round pick, established himself as a full-time starter midway through the 2019 season, and held onto a first-team role from that point on. His consistent production had him in line for a new Ravens extension heading into the 2022 offseason, but circumstances turned against him quickly. Baltimore signed Marcus Williams in free agency on a five-year, $70MM contract, marking their latest big-money investment at the free safety spot.

More significantly with respect to Clark’s status, the Ravens followed up the Williams deal by selecting Kyle Hamilton in the first round of the draft. That move seemed to leave Clark on the outside looking in beyond the 2022 season, and he requested a trade shortly thereafter. Baltimore, as expected, ultimately moved on this March by dealing him to the Jets in a swap which yielded $3.64MM in cap savings.

When speaking about the trade earlier this week, the 28-year-old indicated that he felt “disrespected” by the Ravens given the way his time with the team came to an end. Clark has one year remaining on his current contract, but he was under the impression that a Ravens extension was a distinct possibility in 2022, as noted by Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic (subscription required). Zrebiec adds, notably, that the team was “open to the idea” as well, before their safety additions made Clark expendable.

The latter – who eclipsed the 100-tackle mark for the first time in his career last year – could have a much clearer path to a starting spot in his new home than he would have had in Baltimore in 2023. The Ravens have Williams and Hamilton in place for the foreseeable future, while Clark could partner with Jordan Whitehead in New York ahead of hitting the open market in 2024. With a cap hit of $4.14MM, Clark could prove to be a cost-effective contributor for the Jets as he and the Ravens go their separate ways.

Baltimore did utilize three-safety packages to a notable extent in 2022, as they looked to integrate Hamilton slowly before what should be a dramatic uptick in usage this year. Continuing those alignments may have left the door open to retaining – or even extending – Clark beyond his current deal, but both parties appear to be well-positioned moving forward. How Clark fares in New York, and the degree to which he is replaced in Baltimore, will be worth monitoring in 2023.

Jets To Acquire S Chuck Clark From Ravens

March 9th, 2023 at 9:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

As the Jets remain connected to a potential Aaron Rodgers blockbuster, the team is making another trade. The Jets are acquiring safety Chuck Clark from the Ravens, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

The Ravens will collect a 2024 seventh-round pick for Clark, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Clark had loomed as a Baltimore departure candidate since the first-round selection of Kyle Hamilton last year, and he will have a fresh start in New York. The trade cannot become official until Wednesday, when the 2023 league year begins.

Trade buzz followed Clark immediately after the Ravens drafted Hamilton, as that move came not long after Marcus Williams‘ $14MM-per-year Baltimore pact. The Ravens will move forward with a Williams-Hamilton safety tandem, while the Jets will add a veteran starter for low-end trade compensation. The deal will save the Ravens $3.64MM in cap space; the team, which now has a $32.4MM Lamar Jackson franchise tag on the books, remains more than $8MM over the cap.

Clark said in January he wanted to stay with the Ravens, but he did request a trade during the 2022 offseason. The 27-year-old defender has been a primary Ravens starter for the past four seasons, remaining with the team as it cycled through veteran safeties alongside him. A 2017 Ravens draft choice, Clark arrived in Maryland after current Jets GM Joe Douglas had left the organization. But after talks with former coworker Eric DeCosta produced a deal, the ex-Ravens exec will have an experienced safety on his roster at a low rate. Clark is due just $2.5MM in base salary; his contract runs through the 2023 season.

A sixth-round pick, Clark worked his way up to starter status and stuck around in that role as the likes of Eric Weddle, Tony Jefferson, Earl Thomas, Williams and Hamilton came through town. Clark has made 63 career starts. The Ravens used all three of their safeties frequently in 2022, though a Williams injury prevented the team from doing so for a chunk of the season. Clark finished the year with a career-high 101 tackles, along with a forced fumble.

The Ravens used Clark in a variety of roles, lining him up in the slot on 128 snaps last season (h/t ESPN’s Field Yates) while using him sporadically as a boundary cornerback and an edge defender. Pro Football Focus rated the Virginia Tech product as a middle-of-the-pack safety (46th overall) but viewed him as one of the best run-support players at the position.

Jordan Whitehead remains under contract with the Jets, but 2022 starter Lamarcus Joyner is set to hit free agency next week. Clark’s arrival could point Joyner out of town. As for the Ravens, they are covered at safety. PFF rated Hamilton as the top safety in the league last season. Williams is under contract through 2026, while Hamilton can be kept on his rookie deal through that point due to the fifth-year option.

Ravens’ Chuck Clark, Justin Houston Hoping To Remain In 2023

January 21st, 2023 at 9:46pm CST by Adam La Rose

Baltimore’s offseason will be dominated by their contract decision with respect to quarterback Lamar Jackson, but a number of other notable players face uncertain futures as well. Two of the team’s key defenders have expressed their desire to remain with the Ravens for 2023.

One of those is safety Chuck Clark, who drew plenty of headlines last offseason with respect to his desire to stay with the team. The 27-year-old represented a logical trade candidate in the wake of Baltimore signing Marcus Williams to a big-money free agent deal and using their top draft pick on Kyle Hamilton. In the summer, he confirmed that he had in fact asked to be moved, though the Ravens held onto him throughout the campaign.

Williams essentially played on an every-snap basis when healthy, but the same was also true of Clark. That came as little surprise early on in the season, but many predicted Hamilton would gradually take over his role as (primarily) a box defender later on. Instead, the latter wound up with a 53% defensive snap share, operating as part of the team’s three-safety packages. That left Clark on the field full-time, where he totaled 101 tackles and four pass deflections.

The veteran is on the books for one more season, but he acknowledged (via The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, on Twitter) that there is once again “uncertainty” regarding whether or not he will continue his career in Baltimore. Clark is scheduled to carry a cap hit of just over $6.2MM in 2023, and Hamilton could presumably take on his role as a hybrid defender (if not the unit’s play-caller). Clark’s desire to remain nevertheless represents a notable departure from his stance last year.

His intention was echoed by pass rusher Justin Houston. The 34-year-old started only one contest in 2022, his second with the Ravens, and saw a rotational role on the edge. Despite his 44% snap share, Houston led the team in sacks with 9.5, demonstrating his continued ability to be a disruptive presence in the latter stages of his career. He is, to little surprise, then, eyeing a deal which allows him to play at least one more season.

“The way I feel right now – I’ll be back,” the pending free agent said, via Clifton Brown of the team’s website. “We’ll see if the chips work out, and I’ll be here. That’s out of my control. We’ll see what they do. [But] I’d like to be back here.”

Much of Baltimore’s cap situation will be dictated by Jackson’s cost on either a franchise tag or a long-term deal. When they have established more financial clarity, though, the degree to which Clark’s and Houston’s desire to return is reciprocated will be a notable subplot.

Restructure Details: Brockers, Butker, Clark

September 18th, 2022 at 12:39pm CST by Rory Parks

Here’s a roundup of a few recent contract restructures:

Michael Brockers, DT (Lions): Detroit converted $4MM of Brockers’ 2022 base salary into a signing bonus, which opened up $2MM of cap room, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Brockers signed a three-year, $24MM deal with the Lions in March 2021, and he appeared in 16 games (all starts) in his first year in the Motor City. However, he recorded just one sack and earned an abysmal 40.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
Harrison Butker, K (Chiefs): Butker injured his ankle in Kansas City’s Week 1 win over the Cardinals and missed the club’s Week 2 victory over the Chargers as a result. According to Yates, Butker agreed to convert $2.19MM of his 2022 base salary into a signing bonus, thereby giving KC an additional $1.46MM of cap room (Twitter link). Butker is signed through 2024 and is the league’s 10th-highest-paid kicker by measure of AAV.
Chuck Clark, S (Ravens): There are no specifics on this one, though Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets that Baltimore gave Clark a bit of a raise this year and also added some incentives to his deal. The Ravens doled out a big-ticket free agent contract to safety Marcus Williams in March and selected Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton in the first round of the draft, and Clark subsequently requested a trade. However, it eventually became clear that Clark would continue to play a prominent role on the defense in 2022, and in the team’s Week 1 victory over the Jets, the Virginia Tech product played in all 84 defensive snaps and tallied eight tackles and a forced fumble while continuing to wear the green dot. He is under club control through 2023 and was slated to earn $1.25MM in base pay this year. Per Zrebiec, this transaction represents a show of appreciation for how Clark handled himself this offseason.
Desmond King, DB (Texans): The Texans have converted $911K of King’s 2022 salary into a signing bonus, thereby creating $455K of cap space (Twitter link via Yates). King re-signed with Houston this offseason after appearing in 16 games (12 starts) for the club in 2021 and posting 93 tackles to go along with three interceptions. His two-year contract is worth $7MM.

Ravens S Chuck Clark Requested Trade

August 27th, 2022 at 12:19pm CST by Ben Levine

Chuck Clark has been mentioned as a trade candidate throughout the offseason, and it sounds like the veteran safety would welcome a move. Following an offseason that saw Baltimore make two major commitments at safety, Clark acknowledged that he asked the organization for a trade following the NFL Draft in April.

“Me personally, I just felt the situation that I was in, how things were going, of course, yeah I did ask, ‘Can I get out of here?'” Clark said (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra). “And so, I felt like that didn’t happen and I wasn’t just going to give away my spot. If I’m not going to be a starter, it’s going to have to be taken from me.”

The Ravens signed Marcus Williams to a five-year, $70MM deal, and they selected safety Kyle Hamilton with the 14th-overall pick in the draft. Naturally, Clark thought he was at risk of losing his starting spot, and it sounds like that was the motivation for making his trade request.

The 27-year-old has spent his entire career in Baltimore, and he’s made 44 starts for the team over the past three years. That includes a 2021 campaign where Clark started 16 games while compiling 80 tackles, 12 passes defended, and a pair of interceptions.Pro Football Focus ended up ranking him 41st among 92 qualifying safeties.

Despite the request, Clark still attended offseason workouts and has been a full participant throughout training camp and the preseason. Plus, since the Ravens have the luxury of bringing Hamilton along slowly thanks to their depth, it sounds like Clark could remain a starter for at least another season.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward, but I think that what you all have seen so far is how everyone has been in place,” Clark said. “There was definitely a time I didn’t know what was going to happen, honestly. And whatever was to come with that was going to come. At one point I did feel that way, but now that I’m out here with my team, man, I’m just like … I’m here, I’m locked in. They’re going to get what I got for right now. So, whatever comes in the future, that’s what’s going to come.”

Clark still has two years remaining on the three-year, $16MM extension he signed in 2020.

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