After four years apart, Frank Clark and the Seattle Seahawks are back together. Head coach Pete Carroll announced that the Seahawks were signing their former 2015 second-round pick and expected him to play when the Cleveland Browns visit town on Sunday.
Seattle lost edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu to a season-ending pectoral injury, Carroll announced on Monday, and scoped the landscape for someone to step into his place. Enter Clark, who was cut by the Denver Broncos on Oct. 14 after playing only two games into his one-year, $7.5-million contract.
His general familiarity with what Carroll and the coaching staff like to do made this union all the more ideal. In doing so, Seattle signaled that it has every intention to not only compete for the playoffs this season, but to dethrone the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. At 4-2, the Seahawks are a behind the 5-2 49ers.
“Frank grew up with us,” Carroll told reporters. “It was a good process to see him come into the league and come into being a young man. We had him for a lot of years there. It’s rewarding that he goes and wins a world championship at [another] place and has a lot of success and does some good stuff, and then we get a chance to get him on the other end of his career to see if he can come help us out some. It’s a good thing. It’s a really positive thing.”
Carroll gave general manager John Schneider all of the credit for making the deal happen so quickly. Clark did much of his best work playing for Seahawks from 2016 to 2018. During those seasons he posted 10, nine and 14 sacks, respectively.
Clark was dealt to the Kansas City Chiefs for a first and future second-round pick, when it was clear that no long-term deal was forthcoming. It worked out great for Clark, who was a key contributor in both the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victories and became a three-time Pro Bowler.
Although his regular season numbers paled in comparison to his stats with the Seahawks, Clark gained a reputation for how he showed up in the postseason. In 17 playoff games, Clark has 13.5 sacks which ranks third-most all time.
Seattle is hoping the 30 year old can turn back the hands of time and provide that kind of boost in his second go round with the team.
“His energetic nature, he’s really a terrific effort guy, explosive, big play, brought a lot of juice to the club and all,” Carroll said. “There’s a lot of positive things that we have. I know he’s all fired up and ready, but we’re remembering the good stuff and wanting to make sure that he’s got a chance to help us.”
