End of Frank Clark Era Is Chiefs’ First Defensive Line Domino to Fall

The expectation of Clark being cut is just one of multiple defensive line calls KC has to make.

The Kansas City Chiefs' 2023 offseason is beginning to ramp up, as Monday saw early-afternoon reports that the team is opting to not franchise tag left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. Not too long after that, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that talks between Kansas City and defensive end Frank Clark's camp regarding a reworked contract were unsuccessful and the 29-year-old is expected to be released soon. Just over a week before the start of the new NFL league year, the Chiefs are exercising discipline in their spending habits.

For Clark, this marks the end of a four-year run in Kansas City that saw him record 127 tackles, 59 quarterback hits, 23.5 sacks, seven passes broken up and six forced fumbles in the regular season. He also notched another 10.5 sacks in the playoffs, helping him climb to third on the league's all-time postseason list for that stat. Known as a player who was beloved in the locker room and trusted on the field when it mattered the most, the loss of Clark nets the Chiefs $21 million in cap space but will nevertheless leave a void in multiple regards.

For Steve Spagnuolo's defensive line, this move is likely the first of multiple dominoes to fall over the next several days, weeks and maybe even months.

In addition to Clark, the Chiefs' defensive line has several free agents that need to be accounted for. Tershawn Wharton, a hybrid player of sorts in Spagnuolo's system, is a restricted free agent but is also coming off an ACL tear. Elsewhere, veteran Carlos Dunlap was on a one-year contract and turned 34 at the end of February after putting up a four-sack effort in season No. 13. With Clark set to leave town and Dunlap potentially being right behind him, the cupboard is bare at defensive end.

Last year's first-round pick, George Karlaftis, was very solid in his rookie season. Not only did he record seven pass breakups, but he also recovered a pair of fumbles and had 5.5 sacks in his final seven regular-season games. He then had another sack in the playoffs and played 100 combined defensive snaps throughout the Chiefs' postseason run. With the grizzled veterans of the group departing, pressure will now be placed on Karlaftis and 2020 fifth-round pick Mike Danna (who had a career-high five sacks in 2022) to continue progressing and help pick up some of the slack.

That isn't all, though. The Chiefs also have a pair of true interior defensive linemen hitting free agency: Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders. Nnadi was re-signed on a one-year deal after serving out his rookie contract as a valuable run-stuffing nose tackle, but his play slipped this past season. With that said, he was on the field for 388 snaps on defense. Saunders, who occupied quite a few of the non-Nnadi reps in the final year of his respective rookie-scale deal, set career-best marks across the board and became a major role player on defense. 

Bringing Nnadi back likely isn't worth the investment for the Chiefs, so he'll need to be replaced. The problem is that his pseudo-replacement may price himself out of the team's range. With Brandon Williams being more of a reserve than anything else before his free agency and Danny Shelton being on a mere reserve/future deal, another body or two could stand to be added in order to help facilitate the continued dominance of...

Chris Jones — the final piece of the defensive line puzzle. The All-Pro defensive tackle and third-place Defensive Player of the Year finisher is under contract for the 2023 campaign, but an extension would benefit both him and the Chiefs now and later. Jones will turn 29 this summer and has a chance to secure what will very likely be the biggest payday of his entire NFL career, and Kansas City can lock up a top-two player at the position for the foreseeable future while also lowering his sizable $28.3M cap hit for the upcoming season. Jones will need some help as the miles on his body continue to pile up, which makes it paramount that Spagnuolo's defensive line is in good shape by the time September rolls around.

Don't get it twisted: The Chiefs' looming choice to part ways with Clark is totally justified. Paths to freeing up huge chunks of cap space don't grow on trees, and it's not as if Clark was an elite or even great pass-rusher. Him no longer being a Chief will mark the beginning of a multi-step process, though, that could also see some other defensive linemen follow him to free agency and other teams. Perhaps part one ends in a Clark reunion (which is a possibility that should be mentioned) although even if that does happen, Spagnuolo's rotations may look quite a bit different once the offseason fully unfolds.

Read More: Assessing Chiefs’ Options After Not Tagging Orlando Brown Jr.