Report: Chiefs Expected to Cut Frank Clark, Unable to Rework Deal
After another Super Bowl victory, the Kansas City Chiefs will reportedly move on from their all-time postseason sack leader, defensive end Frank Clark.
Adam Schefter of ESPN tweeted that the Chiefs and Clark "were unable to find common ground on a reworked deal" to make his 2023 cap hit more manageable for KC, leaving "the expectation" to be that the Chiefs will release Clark in order to create more salary cap space.
Chiefs and Frank Clark’s agent Erik Burkhardt were unable to find common ground on a reworked deal during several conversations at the combine and the expectation now is that Kansas City will release the 29-year-old DE who is the NFL’s third all-time leading postseason sack leader, per sources. -- Adam Schefter, ESPN
Clark would have entered 2023 with a cap hit of nearly $29 million. By cutting Clark, the Chiefs free up $21 million in salary cap space for the '23 season. Clark will still carry a $7.675 million dead cap hit in 2023, with numbers from Over The Cap.
Clark, who rose to third place on the NFL's all-time postseason sack list, appears to be the second of two massive dominoes to fall in Monday's first steps into the Chiefs' offseason plan. Roughly an hour before Schefter's report, news broke that KC would not be placing the franchise tag on left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
With $21 million freed up by cutting Clark and nearly $20 million no longer being theoretically tied up in a franchise tag for Brown, the Chiefs now find themselves with a decent amount of salary cap space with the start of the league year just around the corner.
