Seattle Seahawks: DeMarcus Lawrence deal sets market for Frank Clark

The Seattle Seahawks will have to write Frank Clark an even larger check than anticipated now that the DeMarcus Lawrence deal is done.

Ian Rapoport reported on Friday that Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence has signed a monster five-year, $105 million deal with the Dallas Cowboys. $65 million of the deal is guaranteed and Lawrence will get more money in year one than any other player in the league who isn’t a quarterback. The Cowboys defensive end is now just one of three defensive players earning more than $20 million per year (Aaron Donald, Khalil Mack).

It’s unlikely, though, that Lawrence’s deal will remain the largest and more defenders are set to enter the $20 million club. Other highly rated pass rushers, including Frank Clark and Jadeveon Clowney, are salivating at the opportunities Lawrence’s contract opens up to them.

The Seattle Seahawks franchise tagged Clark back in March, but Clark has no intention of signing the tag until a long-term deal is in place. He’s in a similar situation to the one Lawrence was in and will try to leverage his way to a similar deal.

It seems like he’ll have a good shot at getting $20 million per year as well, considering that deals only seem to be growing bigger as players strive to out-earn their colleagues and stamp their names in the record books.

However, Clark is not worth the same amount as Lawrence. The Dallas defensive end has made the last two Pro Bowls and has racked up 122 combined tackles, 25 sacks and six forced fumbles over the past two seasons. In that same time, Clark hasn’t made a Pro Bowl while accruing 73 combined tackles, 22 sacks and five forced fumbles.

Frankly, Clark is more of a pure pass rusher, while Lawrence is capable of rushing the quarterback and controlling the run game. He’s more versatile than Clark.

Clark will make $17,128,000 in 2019 if he signs the franchise tag. The kind of money he’s looking for will jump that to over $20 million, but he’s really not worth that much. Neither was Lawrence, honestly, but the Cowboys gave it to him anyway because that’s the nature of contracts at this point.

Either way, the Clark contract isn’t Seattle’s biggest priority right now. The team is trying to hammer out a deal with Russell Wilson, who is in the last year of his current contract and set the deadline for a new deal on April 15.

The Seahawks will also have to contend with Bobby Wagner and Jarran Reed, who will also be free agents in 2020. Wagner is clearly more important to the team than Clark and the All-Pro middle linebacker should be the priority, but can the team afford to keep all of these players, especially if they keep demanding near record-setting deals?

Clark will get a new deal because the Seahawks need a star edge rusher, but it might take some time for the sides to come to terms. As for Seattle, they have plenty of work cut out for them over the next year. Clark’s and Wilson’s deals are just the first two major challenged the front office will face moving forward.