On Monday morning, the Baltimore Ravens announced that the organization and fourth-year safety Chuck Clark reached an agreement to extend his contract. The soon-to-be 25-year-old was drafted by the Ravens in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft and has come a very long way from being on the roster bubble to solid starter at the strong safety position. Clark assumed a starting role when Tony Jefferson suffered a season-ending ACL injury in week 6.
Clark is known as one of the smartest and hardest working Ravens. He was not only given the opportunity to start in place of Jefferson, but the Ravens also entrusted him with the green dot responsibilities, the coach-to-player audio receiver that Clack would need to use to relay the play call to his fellow defenders.
According to NFL Insiders Adam Caplan and Ian Rapoport, Clark signed a 3-year, $19 million deal, which averages $6.3 million per year. Chuck Clark will remain with the Ravens throughout the 2023 season.
Edit: New reporting suggests the deal is actually $16 million over three years, an average of $5.3 million per year.
This move should be no surprise to Ravens fans, as general manager Eric DeCosta has been working to extend young talent ever since he took over the position last year. He has extended other players in the secondary like Tavon Young and Marcus Peters and now adds Chuck Clark to the collection. DeCosta has given the Ravens arguably the best secondary in the National Football League, which now looks to be together for a long time. Peters and Humphrey will hold the fort down at cornerback, while Clark and Thomas survey the field at the safety positions.
The news of Clark’s contract extension is a bad omen for Tony Jefferson, who was already on the Ravens’ 2020 roster bubble. Since joining the Ravens in 2017, Jefferson has played very inconsistently at the strong safety position. His 2019 was off to a rocky start before his injury, and Clark played arguably better than the high-priced veteran. Baltimore will save $7.49 million by releasing the embattled veteran. Whatever Jefferson’s status was at the end of the season, his departure know looks imminent.
