The Seahawks certainly would have rather kept Frank Clark, but his trade did much more than net Seattle a couple of high draft picks.
The Seahawks entered the 2019 draft with just four picks and left with eleven. The big trade of Frank Clark set the tone for this bonanza in more ways than one. It set off a chain reaction of trade after trade, seven in all by the Seahawks wizard – sorry, general manager – John Schneider. By the time he was done, the team that entered the week with four picks had eleven new Seahawks at the end of the draft.
Now those rookies aren’t like to sign their contracts until June, but one reason they’ll be able to do so is the trade of Clark. The projected cap hit for all of the Seahawks rookie contracts will be just under $8.8 million, according to spotrac.com. From the same site, Seattle currently has a bit under $26.4 million in cap space, not including the rookie contracts. This doesn’t include the cap hit of any of the undrafted free agents the team has reportedly signed, either.
If you’ll remember, Seattle applied the franchise tag to Frank Clark. The value was in the neighborhood of $17 million. That $17 million is now back in the Seahawks account now. Less than half of that will cover eleven new players. It’s far too soon to tell if any of them will turn into the caliber of Clark, but I like the odds a lot. First-round pick defensive end L.J. Collier has drawn numerous comparisons to Michael Bennett. Safety Marquise Blair is, in the words of our own Colby Patnode, a heat-seeking missile. Wide receiver D.K. Metcalf might as well have stepped out of a comic-book movie with his ridiculous athletic traits. Seattle added eight more players, each with the potential to have a big impact on the franchise for years to come.
We can’t forget – and aren’t likely to – that the Seahawks still have big contract extensions looming with Bobby Wagner and Jarran Reed. As our Karley Sibert wrote a week ago, signing Russell Wilson made the overall contract situation tight. No one was happy to see Frank Clark leave, but his departure opened up a world of opportunities for the team.