The New Orleans Saints have plenty of salary cap resources to work with, and it would make sense for them to invest in a new pass rusher after letting Marcus Davenport walk away in free agency. And one suggestion comes from Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, who suggested New Orleans as one of the best fits for recently-released Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark:
When the Chiefs decided to release Frank Clark, he immediately became one of the best edge-defenders in a shallow free-agent class. Clark is 29 years old and his regular season numbers aren’t staggering, but he’s racked up 10.5 sacks in four playoff runs with the Chiefs.
He’s a savvy veteran with a skill set many teams would love to add, even if he’s just a rotational player.
The Saints are a team that could use him as a starter. Marcus Davenport had a down year last season, but they will still miss him in their rotation. With Cam Jordan entering his age-34 season, it might be a good idea for the Saints to add a veteran like Clark who can take some of his snaps and help both players sustain success.
Clark’s production has trailed off with age, which partially led to his release by Kansas City, but he also brings a lot of off-field distractions. Before being dismissed from Michigan’s college team due to 2014 domestic violence charges, he pled guilty to 2012 felony home-invasion charges. The Seattle Seahawks overlooked those incidents to pick him in the second round of the 2015 draft, only to trade him to the Chiefs in 2019. He’s currently serving probation following gun charges in Los Angeles stemming from a March 2021 arrest, which led to a two-game suspension last season. He has a lot of baggage.
But back to the football fit. Clark generated 56 quarterback pressures last year for Kansas City, which would have led the Saints by a healthy margin (Cameron Jordan paced the team with 37). He’s undersized by their standards — despite being listed at 272 pounds, he said last summer that he was playing at about 250 pounds. Jordan and the other New Orleans defensive ends all tip the scales at roughly 285 pounds. Dennis Allen has used lighter pass rushers before, but size has been a point of emphasis for him as of late.
Maybe that changes if the Saints like Clark’s fit in their defense. They were willing to overlook sexual misconduct charges against defensive end Carl Granderson, who missed part of his rookie year while serving time in a Wyoming prison, and their public pursuit of quarterback Deshaun Watson — despite dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct — was well-documented. They signed free safety Marcus Maye last year knowing he’s facing an eventual suspension from a Feb. 2021 DUI charge in Florida, and running back Alvin Kamara remains in their plans with a suspension looming after his arrest in Las Vegas a year ago. The Saints have shown us that there’s a lot they’ll overlook if they feel a player can improve their on-field product.
