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A well-deserved contract extension which comes at 60% the cost of Tony Jefferson’s annual average value. This move saves the franchise money both in the short-term and long-term.
Current Strong Safety contracts (by AAV)
— Baltimore Beatdown (@BmoreBeatdown) February 10, 2020
1. Reshad Jones - $12 m
2. Kareem Jackson - $11 m
3. Tony Jefferson - $8.5 m
4. Eric Reid - $7.35 m
5. Quandre Diggs - $6.2 m
6. Micah Hyde - $6.1 m
7. Kenny Vaccaro - $6 m
8. Jamal Adams - $5.56 m
9. Chuck Clark - $5.1 m (pending)
With Earl Thomas III by his side and another year in the same Don Martindale system, I expect Chuck Clark to grow with a full season ahead as the primary starter. — Kyle P Barber
Right player, right price.
Clark’s extension makes him the 25th highest paid safety in the league. This is an appropriate valuation for the on-field general of Wink Martindale’s scheme. Clark uses his intelligence to overcome his athletic limitations and was an improvement over Tony Jefferson in all facets last season. Clark also provides value by allowing free substitution at linebacker because he wears the green dot.
GM Eric DeCosta continues to build upon Ozzie Newsome’s roster construction philosophy by investing in ascending players instead of spending cap space on aging stopgaps. Allocating his remaining disposable cap space on pass rushing defensive lineman and edge defenders will enable the Ravens to maintain their elite defense from 2019. — Vasilis Lericos
Chuck Clark is coming off a career season, which cemented him as the team’s starting strong safety moving forward. He led the Ravens in tackles with 68 and was even charged with communicating the play calls to the rest of the defense. Last season, Clark was a clear upgrade over Tony Jefferson. The Ravens can save $7 million in cap space by cutting Jefferson, who spent the majority of last season on the IR with a torn ACL. At age 24, Clark is just beginning to enter his prime and thanks to his new 3-year contract worth $19 million, he will carry a lower cap number than Jefferson. This is another smart deal by Eric DeCosta. — Jakob Ashlin
Clark was a major reason for Baltimore’s incredible defensive turnaround in 2019. Once Clark took over the green dot, communication improved immensely on the back-end of the defense. Clark has proven to be an extremely good 6th-round pick. — Dustin Cox