Seahawks S Bud Clark Suffers Broken Ankle

Mike Macdonald said (via NFL.com’s Andrew Siciliano) the second-round safety suffered a broken ankle during Seattle’s preseason game against Tennessee today. Clark will be expected to miss at least multiple months.

The defending Super Bowl champions drafted Clark 64th overall out of TCU and placed him in a competition with Ty Okada for the safety spot alongside Julian Love. Okada entered training camp as the frontrunner to start, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes Clark was slated to have a key role as a rookie.

Barring a season-ending surgery taking place, the Seahawks will likely wait until the August 30 cutdown day to move Clark to IR. That would allow Seattle to designate the rookie as one of its two IR-return players, immediately moving Clark off the roster. The Seahawks would lose one of their eight regular-season IR activations by doing so, but were they to place Clark on IR before next Sunday’s deadline, he would be ineligible to play this season.

Two-year safety starter Coby Bryant defected to the Bears in free agency, though the Seahawks exited the draft in fairly good shape at safety. The team looks to have connected on an impact player in last year’s second round, drafting Nick Emmanwori. The versatile performer joins Love as key safety presences, and Okada — a former UDFA — made 11 starts last season. The Seahawks retained the Montana State alum with an ERFA tender this offseason. Drafting Clark weeks later, the Seahawks appeared poised to carry an interesting safety contingent into their title-defense season. A test awaits that group now, though the presences of Love and Emmanwori could certainly make this a minor setback in the grand scheme.

Emmanwori logged 378 slot snaps and 285 plays in the box as a rookie, according to Pro Football Focus; the advanced metrics website also graded Okada’s work well, placing him 21st among qualified safeties in 2025. Clark displayed versatility with the Horned Frogs. During a second-team All-Big 12 season in 2025, the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder played 309 snaps in the slot, 214 in the box and 139 at free safety. Clark was also a ballhawk with the Big 12 program, intercepting 15 career passes.

The presences of Love, Emmanwori and Okada should soften the blow from Clark’s exit, but barring a notable addition, defending champs will carry a thinner depth chart at the position into the season.