As the Jets remain connected to a potential Aaron Rodgers blockbuster, the team is making another trade. The Jets are acquiring safety Chuck Clark from the Ravens, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
The Ravens will collect a 2024 seventh-round pick for Clark, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Clark had loomed as a Baltimore departure candidate since the first-round selection of Kyle Hamilton last year, and he will have a fresh start in New York. The trade cannot become official until Wednesday, when the 2023 league year begins.
Trade buzz followed Clark immediately after the Ravens drafted Hamilton, as that move came not long after Marcus Williams‘ $14MM-per-year Baltimore pact. The Ravens will move forward with a Williams-Hamilton safety tandem, while the Jets will add a veteran starter for low-end trade compensation. The deal will save the Ravens $3.64MM in cap space; the team, which now has a $32.4MM Lamar Jackson franchise tag on the books, remains more than $8MM over the cap.
Clark said in January he wanted to stay with the Ravens, but he did request a trade during the 2022 offseason. The 27-year-old defender has been a primary Ravens starter for the past four seasons, remaining with the team as it cycled through veteran safeties alongside him. A 2017 Ravens draft choice, Clark arrived in Maryland after current Jets GM Joe Douglas had left the organization. But after talks with former coworker Eric DeCosta produced a deal, the ex-Ravens exec will have an experienced safety on his roster at a low rate. Clark is due just $2.5MM in base salary; his contract runs through the 2023 season.
A sixth-round pick, Clark worked his way up to starter status and stuck around in that role as the likes of Eric Weddle, Tony Jefferson, Earl Thomas, Williams and Hamilton came through town. Clark has made 63 career starts. The Ravens used all three of their safeties frequently in 2022, though a Williams injury prevented the team from doing so for a chunk of the season. Clark finished the year with a career-high 101 tackles, along with a forced fumble.
The Ravens used Clark in a variety of roles, lining him up in the slot on 128 snaps last season (h/t ESPN’s Field Yates) while using him sporadically as a boundary cornerback and an edge defender. Pro Football Focus rated the Virginia Tech product as a middle-of-the-pack safety (46th overall) but viewed him as one of the best run-support players at the position.
Jordan Whitehead remains under contract with the Jets, but 2022 starter Lamarcus Joyner is set to hit free agency next week. Clark’s arrival could point Joyner out of town. As for the Ravens, they are covered at safety. PFF rated Hamilton as the top safety in the league last season. Williams is under contract through 2026, while Hamilton can be kept on his rookie deal through that point due to the fifth-year option.
In Joe we trust. I gather the salary add is not a huge one because a lot of cap magic will be needed to get Rodgers and Bakhtiari in there if that’s the plan.
I’m still fully expecting a Corey Davis release. That’ll help significantly. Between the two, it clears a somewhat incredible amount of cap space.
It looks like the Berrios release is more to accommodate the addition of Chuck Clark than it is with regard to the pending trade.
The Jets’ safety room flat out needed a capable body or two. Trading a 7th rounder for a guy like Clark is a perfectly good way to replace Lamarcus Joyner.
Love this trade for the player acquired. Love this trade even more because it feels like the initial move that signals we’re serious about competing.
This is a solid move, really solid. Jets fans should be pleased. Clark is a tough as nails baller.
I’m trying to figure out exactly what the Ravens are up to. Just a move to save money?
Yes. They need to make room to fit Lamar’s franchise tag. This clears about 1/3 of that.
Did I read this correctly – a 7th-round pick in 2024? For a safety with 101 tackles and a salary of $2.5M? What am I missing?
Last year they laid out a huge contract for Marcus Williams and a first round pick on Kyle Hamilton. Clark was likely to be cut. He’s a perfectly good role player, but it’s not that hard for a safety or linebacker to put up huge raw tackle numbers, even if they’re not great. And safeties are one of the lowest paid positions.
Clark is a rock-solid safety and has been the last 3 years. Shocked it’s only a 7th rounder coming back even if he’s just under contract for 1 more year. Jets fans should be ecstatic. This one hurts as a Ravens fan
Why? He’s just a guy. Not special at all.
When I think of “just a guy,” I think of role players/backups. Clark is definitely a solid starter. He may not be an all-pro but he isn’t replacement level either.
Ashtyn Davis is “just a guy”. Chuck Clark is a bonafide starter.
Third or fourth best safety for the ravens and trading pre 3/16 clears 4,000,000 ish in space if that makes sense at all
Is there a “non-trade” section of time in the NFL? That’s the only thing that makes sense as to why the trade can’t be official until next Wednesday. I thought players under contract could be traded at any time.
Technically, the trading deadline was back in November. New trades aren’t official until at least the start of the new league year and sometimes even later to comply with post-June 1 moves.