Grading the Frank Clark trade for Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks
Kansas City Chiefs Grade
Put as simply as possible, the Kansas City Chiefs got fleeced in this trade. There is absolutely no denying the fact that Andy Reid’s team needed to add an edge rusher moving forward after this offseason, and general manager Brett Veach made that happen. But the way that he went about doing so is questionable at best.
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First off, even though the Chiefs were sitting at the No. 29 pick in the 2019 draft, it would have been a better option for them to try and move up in the first round to get an elite pass-rusher in this class. Yes, it would’ve cost a great deal of draft capital to make that trade, but trading for Clark did the same. The difference, however, is that inking a rookie prospect is a much more cost-effective strategy than now having to sign Clark to a market-value contract for a veteran pass-rusher.
Even if you give Veach and the Chiefs the benefit of the doubt and say that they didn’t like any pass-rusher they could land in this draft class, it doesn’t change the fact that they traded a talented pass-rusher in Dee Ford after placing him under the franchise tag earlier this offseason to get into this position.
Instead of working out a long-term deal with Ford, who is arguably just as effective of a player as Clark, and biting the financial bullet there, they are now still going to be chomping down on the same bullet to sign Clark while also having to give up draft capital this year and next year to make that signing.
That’s bad business but, because they get a talented player, you can’t outright fail the Chiefs — but you can come close.