Seahawks franchise Frank Clark as huge sigh sweeps Seattle
The Seahawks took care of their number one offseason task this afternoon, putting the franchise tag on defensive end Frank Clark.
The Seattle Seahawks tagged noted man-beast and defensive end Frank Clark with the franchise tag today. This ensures that he’ll be with the team through the 2019 season. It’s been reported that the sigh of relief that swept through the Pacific Northwest registered at 40 knots in some areas.
There’s good reason for that relief, even though it seemed to be clear from the start that both Clark and the Seahawks wanted to keep a great thing going. Clark racked up 30 percent of the Seahawks sacks last year, and just under 25 percent of all their quarterback hits. As Lee Vowell wrote just a week ago, Seattle could not afford to lose Clark. He’s simply too important to their defense.
Now all the focus on an edge rusher in the upcoming draft will be for a bookend to Clark, not a replacement. That makes an enormous difference in the Seahawks draft strategy. While they may still actually stay at 21, it isn’t as imperative that they find a defensive end now. Seattle may take longer looks at safety and corner for their first selection now. It’s much better to go into the draft with some necessities than having to fill one monster-sized hole.
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Just because Frank Clark got the franchise tag, it doesn’t mean we’ll go through the hand-wringing and cold sweats again next year. As reported by Stacy Rost on mynorthwest.com, Seattle still has until mid-July to sign Clark to a long-term deal. And according to ESPN, he had 14 sacks; even better!
The sigh of relief that comes from knowing Frank Clark is in the fold for 2019 is a big one, for sure. After the stress of the Ricard Sherman and Michael Bennett situations last offseason, and Earl Thomas for what seemed to be decades, it was nice to see two sides working toward a solution. It was especially rewarding to see that Clark’s agent, Erick Burkhardt, acknowledged what Seattle has done for his client while still representing Clark’s best interests zealously.
Bottom line, Jarran Reed won’t be going after the quarterback alone on 2019. Whoever Seattle brings to the line, whether through the draft or free agency, won’t have to fill Clark’s cleats. Clark’s presence will have a major impact on the Seattle defense as they continue to “reset” the team.