Frank Clark's recent signing with the Broncos takes him from the reigning Super Bowl-champion Chiefs to the basement dwellers of the AFC West, but he believes Denver has all the pieces it needs to flip the script.
"You can say what you want about their record, but if you know football, if you understand it, that's the type of team that can turn it around in a heartbeat," Clark said Friday on the Undefined with Josina Anderson podcast. "I've seen it and I know it. They just need to add a few pieces to get the job done, and I feel like they're doing the right thing adding me."
Although that's exactly what a new free-agent signing can be expected to say, Clark does join a defense that has the potential to dominate games.
Clark himself has 58.5 career sacks, including 23.5 during his four-year run with the rival Chiefs that spawned three Pro Bowls trips and two Super Bowl rings. He should be in good company rushing the passer alongside Randy Gregory and Zach Allen, another addition by the team this offseason. The secondary is also in capable hands led by the young Pat Surtain II.
Although the unit finished the season ranked 14th in points allowed and seventh in yards surrendered, those numbers were to some degree exacerbated by an offense that rarely provided support. Denver gave up 17 points per game and only once allowed more than 23 through its first 12 matchups. The stellar defensive output still resulted in a miserable 3-9 record. Then, late-season fatigue set in, and the defense went on to give up an average of 31 points per game over the team's last five contests.
That lapse would likely not have happened -- at least so severely -- for a team in contention, as Clark hopes the Broncos will be in 2023.
The other side of the ball also figures to be vastly improved under the guidance of new head coach Sean Payton, whom Clark tabbed as the third Hall of Famer he'll have the privilege of playing under in his career.
"My first coach I had the chance to play with was Pete Carroll, Hall of Fame coach," he said. "Second was Andy Reid, a Hall of Fame coach. Third, Sean Payton, I'm sure he'll be a Hall of Fame coach. So, at the end of the day, it all works in favor when I look at the coach. The next part is building a winning tradition. Building a foundation that we can stand on as a team where we can get things done. I feel like that's the next step, and I'm excited."
Clark's vision for his new squad will, of course, have to take shape in a division owned by the Chiefs for seven years now -- a team that released him in March. He'll face Kansas City as a Bronco twice within a three-week span in October, but at least for now, Clark doesn't have any trash talk or ill will built up.
"I enjoyed my time in K.C," he said. "I enjoyed the relationship, like I said, that I built with everybody. There's no hard feelings toward nobody in that building. But it was just time to move on. Time for new beginnings."
