Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider's professed love for defensive end Frank Clark apparently wasn't deep enough to prevent him from sending Clark elsewhere.
The Seahawks agreed to trade Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, a 2020 second-round pick and a swap of third-round picks in 2019, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, via sources informed of the transaction.
Not long after the trade, Rapoport reported Clark agreed with the Chiefs to a new five-year contract worth a whopping $105.5 million with $63.5 million guaranteed.
With Clark, the Chiefs fill an immediate need on the edges with one of the league's top pass rushers. The Chiefs are expected to transition to a 4-3 base defense under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and previously traded pass rusher Dee Ford to the San Francisco 49ers and parted ways with edge Justin Houston.
Kansas City had plenty of draft capital to work with to find a pass rusher when considering the team originally had four draft picks within the top 100. But landing a proven player such as Clark, who turns 26 on June 14, over a rookie in the upcoming draft couldn't be overlooked.
The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Clark, who played in a 4-3 scheme in Seattle, is an ideal fit for what the Chiefs want to do going forward and he totaled 35 sacks, including a career-high 13 sacks in 2018. Clark added 72 quarterback hits over the past four seasons. Clark joins the Chiefs' recent additions, Alex Okafor and Emmanuel Ogbah, on the revamped defensive edge.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks now have a gaping hole to fill on defense.
Securing additional draft picks in the early rounds from the Chiefs, however, should provide Schneider the ammunition to find Clark's successor.
