The Green Bay Packers have high expectations going into the 2024 NFL season. Jordan Love is going to be in his second year as the starting quarterback after posting a 64.6% completion percentage, 4,159 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 96.1 passer rating in his first year under center. His young pass catching core, all of whom were first or second year players in 2023, also now have a year of experience playing together under their belt.
Defensively, the Packers are entering a whole new era with Jeff Hafley as their defensive coordinator. The former Boston College head coach was hired to replace the highly unpopular Joe Barry, whose defenses failed year after year to reach their full potential.
Hafley’s defense is going to change Green Bay’s scheme from a 3-4 to a 4-3, and is going to be better suited for all of the players on the Packers’ roster. Among these players is three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
Kenny Clark Has Had a Good Career with the Green Bay Packers
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While defensive coordinator have come and gone in Green Bay, Kenny Clark has remained a successful anchor of the defense throughout his tenure with the Packers. Halfey will be the fourth defensive coordinator Clark has played with in Green Bay. A first round pick in 2016, Clark joined the team when Dom Capers was still the defensive coordinator. Since then, the Packers have cycled through Mike Pettine and Barry, and now have Hafley.
Despite the frequent changes at the top of the defensive coaching tree, Clark has been a consistent playmaker on the field. He has made three Pro Bowls during his time with the Packers, with those selections coming in 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Football being the violent game that it is, it is not uncommon for players to miss time due to injury, especially linemen who have the hardest and most demanding job in the trenches. However, Clark has only missed seven games in eight seasons, and has not missed a game in over three years.
Clark’s 34.0 sacks rank 15th in the franchise’s long history and second among Packers players who played on the interior defensive line (Henry Jordan had 59.5 career sacks in Green Bay).
Should the Green Bay Packers Trade or Extend Kenny Clark?
The fact of the matter, though, is that Clark is an expensive player, and rightfully so. He is currently carrying a $27.4 million cap hit and is playing in the final year of his four-year $70 million contract.
In a recent article in which they described ways in which each NFL team could create more cap space, Bleacher Report‘s scouting department suggested the idea that the Packers could either trade or extend Clark to add to their $19 million in salary cap space:
“Clark is set to turn 29 in October and is an expensive player, but he’s been extremely productive. He’s set to be a 2025 free agent, and an extension would make sense.
“If that extension can reduce Clark’s $15.6 million base salary, all the better. If Green Bay doesn’t want to invest in Clark long-term, trading him after June 1 would save $17 million in cap space.”
There is no question whether or not Clark still has anything left in the tank. Clearly he does as shown by 2023 Pro Bowl selection and career-high 7.5 sacks last season. The question is whether Green Bay will trade him or extend him.
The Green Bay Packers Should Extend Kenny Clark
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While the Packers have some good young pieces on their defensive line, such as Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, and TJ Slaton, none of them are Kenny Clark (yet).
Clark is a veteran leader on a team with so few experienced veterans. He also is one of the best interior pass rushers in the NFL, especially now that Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald has retired.
There is virtually no chance that the Packers trade Clark at any point this offseason, so the remaining options are to let him play out his contract or to give him an extension at some point.
Given the youth on the roster, extending him would keep an experienced leader on the defensive side of the ball as well as keep one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL at home in Green Bay.
The Packers will probably wait until after the season starts to extend Clark, but there is very little chance that he hits free agency.
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