Sean Payton: Cutting Frank Clark a ‘win-win for both sides’

As of this moment, former Broncos edge rusher Frank Clark has yet to land with another team. That seems likely to change at some point in the near future after his release from the team became official Saturday.

But in the wake of the move, Broncos coach Sean Payton acknowledged Clark being “frustrated” with his playing time.

“Yeah, look, I think it was kind of a win-win for both sides. I mean, look, Frank was frustrated with the snaps — or lack thereof,” Payton explained during his conference call with Denver-area media on Monday.

“We brought him in hoping that we could get more from him.”

That never proved to be the case. Even during preseason work, Clark was a rotational player. As a result, during the second preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, Clark saw snaps well into the fourth quarter.

Sean Payton, on cutting Frank Clark: “Yeah, look, I think it was kind of a win-win for both sides. I mean, look, Frank was frustrated with the snaps — or lack thereof. We brought him in hoping that we could get more from him. …” pic.twitter.com/ZZPcWmwZRn

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 16, 2023

BREAKING DOWN THE SEASON FOR FRANK CLARK

Frank Clark played 25 snaps in Week 1. He suffered a partial tear of his abductor muscle in practice three days later and missed the following three games. When he returned, he saw just 11 snaps in the Week 5 loss to the New York Jets.

Two days later, Clark did not practice due to what the Broncos termed as an “illness.” But one day later, he restructured his contract. He sat out Thursday night’s game against Kansas City and was subsequently gone.

Playing a role in Clark’s lack of use was the emergence of second-year player Nik Bonitto and third-year veteran Jonathon Cooper. Cooper effectively nudged Clark out of the starting lineup after a stellar preseason. Bonitto flashed in a rotational role in the first three games, then pushed Randy Gregory from the first team in Week 4, allowing him to have a breakout performance in the Broncos’ only win to date this season.

With Bonitto and Cooper gobbling up the snaps — along with the imminent return of Baron Browning from the physically-unable-to-perform list — Clark became redundant. His repetitions dried up.

“In fairness to Frank, I don’t think he ever felt like he was getting enough in a row to play well, and you have some of the other guys who were earning those spots,” Payton said.

“It was a difficult decision, and we just felt it was in the best interest of the club.”

But it also marked yet another free-agent misfire for the Broncos. Even though the team was able to recoup some of its initial investment via a restructure last week, it marked a second veteran swing-and-miss at edge rusher in two offseasons.

And Clark will likely be remembered not for anything he did on the field, but for his comments about the state of the Broncos-Chiefs rivalry made during training camp. That will be his legacy in orange and blue, and no more.

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