Getty Ravens DB Chuck Clark could be on the move this offseason via release or trade.
Depending on what happens between the Baltimore Ravens and the ongoing contract negotiations with their franchise quarterback, Lamar Jackson, as the franchise tag deadline draws near, the front office will be forced to make some tough decisions if a long-term deal can not be struck.
Whether they use the nonexclusive designation or the exclusive designation, Jackson’s 2023 cap hit would be a minimum of $32.4 million if he and the team don’t come to terms before the July 15th deadline to negotiate a new contract.
According to spotrac.com, the Ravens are projected to have $26.8 million in cap space when the new league year begins which is the 9th-most in the league but if the vast majority or entirety of it has to go towards retaining the two-time Pro Bowler, general manager Eric DeCosta, and Co. will have to amend or terminate some of the current contracts of other players to get under the cap.
The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec pointed to veteran safety Chuck Clark as a candidate to be traded or released this offseason to give the team some immediate cap relief.
#Ravens Safety Chuck Clark looks like “a trade or cut candidate.”, writes @jeffzrebiec
Baltimore drafted Kyle Hamilton in the 1st round last year and also signed Safety Marcus Williams to a big contract in free-agency.
Chark has been a solid player throughout his Ravens career
The former sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2017 turned stalwart starter and the team’s 2022 Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award nominee has one year left on the three-year extension he signed in 2020 with $15.3 million. Per spotrac.com, his cap hit in 2023 is $6.2 million, and the team would save $3.6 million by moving on from him while incurring a dead cap charge of just $2.6 million.
In six years with the Ravens with the last three coming as a full-time starter, Clark has appeared in 101 career games and made 67 starts including the postseason.
According to Pro Football Reference, he has recorded 384 total tackles that included a career-high 101 in 2022, 8 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 8 quarterback hits, 5 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 32 pass breakups, five interceptions one of which he returned for his lone career touchdown.
CHUCK CLARK 🏠 📞
Writing Has Been on the Wall For Since Last Offseason
Clark has been an invaluable member of the Ravens’ secondary dating back to the 2019 season when he first took over as a full-time starter after Tony Jefferson suffered a season-ending knee injury. He’s been durable, dependable, and dynamic with the way he can play in the box as a dime linebacker and cover athletic tight ends one-on-one in coverage down the field.
Chuck Clark diagnosed this based off the motion and was in the backfield immediately ending the play.
However, last offseason the Ravens made a huge splash in free agency when they signed ball-hawking free safety Marcus Williams from the New Orleans Saints to a massive five-year contract worth $70 million in mid-March. In late April, they had the top safety prospect to come out into the draft in years fall into their laps at No. 14 overall in former Notre Dame standout Kyle Hamilton.
Following these developments, Clark had initially requested a trade but instead of pressing the matter further when the team didn’t oblige by holding out, he earned the right to remain the full-time starter at strong safety.
Chuck Clark said he requested a trade from the Ravens this offseason, but when it didn’t happen, he turned his attention to working.
“If I’m not going to be a starter, it’s gonna have to be taken from me.”
Ravens’ first-year defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald found ways to multiple safety packages that allowed both Clark and Hamilton to be on the field early and often.
He played 100 percent of the team’s total defensive snaps for a third straight year and the rookie still managed to be on the field for 53 percent with increased playing time in a hybrid slot safety role that earned him the highest Pro Football Focus overall grade for his position since 2014.
Highest-graded safety by season since 2014
Zrebiec expects Hamilton to step into a larger role as the full-time starter at the strong safety spot next to Williams in his second season. They also have 2020 seventh-round pick out of Iowa Geno Stone who started seven games at free safety when Williams suffered a dislocated wrist and showed he’s capable and deserving of an increased and more consistent role. He’s slated to be a restricted free agent but is expected to be tendered.
“Hamilton should slide into a starting safety role next season,” he wrote. “Baltimore has a quality top three going forward, but it’ll need to add safety depth this offseason with Clark’s potential departure.”
Clark would likely have a plethora of suitors vying for his services if he were to be released, especially since it’d be as a salary cap casualty and wouldn’t count against another team’s compensatory pick formula.
However, the Ravens would likely be able to find a trade partner that might be willing to send them a day-three pick in this year’s draft where they currently only have five.
Former Ravens Scout Suggests Taking Another 1st-Round Safety
The 2023 NFL Draft is another and the most likely avenue that the team would take use to reinforce their depth at safety rather than spending money they likely won’t have outside of a veteran minimum type of deal.
After projecting Anthony Richardson as a potential successor to Jackson in his Mock Draft 1.0, former Ravens scout turned top draft analyst at NFL Network, Daniel Jeremiah, predicts that team will select a dynamic defensive back for the second year in a row in Alabama’s Brian Branch in his Mock Draft 2.0.
“Ozzie Newsome is still in the building, and Alabama players will always be coveted by the Ravens,” Jeremiah wrote. “Baltimore will value Branch’s versatility and playmaking ability.”
Adding a dynamic defensive weapon like Branch would allow the Ravens to deploy the same creative multiple safety sub-packages that they did in 2022 with Clark and Hamilton.
At 6-foot and 193 pounds, he is better suited to play in the slot at nickel safety than the 6-foot-4 and 219-pound Hamilton who played well inside but struggled at times covering natural and more shifty slot receivers.
Alabama S Brian Branch in the Sugar Bowl is one of the best tapes I’ve seen from this class (12 tackles, 4 TFLs, INT). Really smart, great play speed.
Here, he knows the SAF will come down on #2 when the WR sits inside. Becomes a free player, jumps the outside WR for the INT.
Branch had a breakout season as a junior in 2022 playing in the ‘star’ nickel role in Nick Saban’s defense for the Crimson Tide. In 13 games, he recorded career-highs in total tackles (90), tackles for loss (14), sacks (3), interceptions (2), and broke up seven passes as well according to Sports Reference.
Ravens fans would hate to see the team take anything other than a wide receiver in the first round. However, adding a versatile defensive back like Branch would help them attack two needs with one pick as they also need more depth at cornerback with three-time Pro Bowler Marcus Peters slated to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.