Packers News: Kenny Clark gets contract extension he deserves

Kenny Clark has signed a four-year extension with the Packers, and he deserves every penny of it.

One of the Green Bay Packers‘ biggest priorities was to re-sign defensive tackle Kenny Clark, and now they finally have.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Clark has signed a four-year contract extension worth $70 million that includes $25 million in signing bonus. The Packers will pay him $37 million over the first two years. Clark is now the highest-paid nose tackle in NFL history.

And just like that, Clark goes from the possibility of playing the 2020 season on the final year of his contract, to landing a new extension that makes him the 12th highest-paid defensive player in the league.

Clark deserves new deal with Packers

Anyone who has watched the Packers in recent years knows just how good Clark is. A nose tackle’s job isn’t to regularly make sacks, but Clark has 16.5 sacks and 22 quarterback hits over the past three seasons.

Clark continues to improve and he’s become one of the best defensive linemen in the league. Not only can Clark defend the run, but his dominance as a pass rusher makes him such a great player.

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Clark made the first of many Pro Bowl appearances last season and he is now under contract with the Packers for five more years. Clark is still only 24 years old and is just hitting the prime of his career. This new deal means he’ll be a key part of Green Bay’s defense for another half a decade.

There was some uncertainty about when Green Bay would be able to get a new deal done. With David Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, and Kevin King also hitting free agency next spring, and some uncertainty about next year’s salary cap, it was far from a guarantee a new deal would be agreed this summer.

But the Packers made it a priority, and they’ve now got their star defensive tackle under contract for five more years.