The Jets will bring back safety Chuck Clark on a one-year contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. New York acquired Clark from the Ravens last March, sending a seventh-rounder back to Baltimore in the trade.
Unfortunately, Clark suffered a torn ACL during OTAs in June, thereby ending his first Jets season before it started. Gang Green is comfortable with Clark’s recovery, and as fellow safeties Jordan Whitehead and Ashtyn Davis are also out of contract, retaining Clark on what is surely a modest deal makes plenty of sense.
As we heard earlier this week, Whitehead appears unlikely to return to the team, leaving Clark as the likely starter at strong safety and Tony Adams as his running mate at free safety.
Although Clark is not a world-beater, he was a regular starter for the Ravens from 2019-22 and only became expendable once Baltimore authorized a high-end free-agent contract for Marcus Williams in 2022 and selected Kyle Hamilton in the first round of that year’s draft.
Even after those acquisitions, the Ravens retained Clark for the 2022 campaign, underscoring his value to the club.
Over his final two years with the Ravens, Clark earned high marks from Pro Football Focus for his work in run defense. While his coverage grades were not as strong, they were at least passable, and with the Jets likely to deploy him close to the line of scrimmage on most snaps, his limitations in the passing game will be mitigated to some degree.
Until his ACL tear, Clark had proven himself to be a highly durable player, having missed one game due to injury to that point in his career.
The Jets will hope the 2017 sixth-rounder, who turns 29 next month, can turn in a healthy campaign while offering stability on the back end of their defense.
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