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With Duane Brown and Tyler Lockett each signing new contracts with Seattle in August, and the team unwilling to do the same for safety Earl Thomas ahead of his season-ending injury earlier this month, defensive end Frank Clark has become the most pressing potential contract extension for the Seahawks.

Clark is set to reach free agency in March after his initial four-year rookie contract as a second-round pick in 2015 comes to an end. But Clark isn’t pushing hard to get a new deal done with the Seahawks as soon as possible. According to Brady Henderson of ESPN.com, Clark’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, said Clark has taken out an insurance policy to cover any potential loss in value due to an injury prior to reaching free agency.

They don’t intend to settle for a deal now that will appear to be below market value when new deals are dished out around the league in March.

“Obviously players want a long-term deal because this game is dangerous and violent and everything else, but I’m going to continue to bet on my guy.” Burkhardt said. “You look at a guy like Kirk Cousins who played out the franchise tag, that’s not all bad either. He did that because he believed in himself and also knows teams can’t usually find top quarterbacks in free agency. The pass-rush market is much the same in that aspect. It’s supply and demand.”

Clark is putting together his best season with the Seahawks. He’s recorded 5.5 sacks with an interception and two forced fumbles in the first six games of the season. Clark had another would-be strip-sack of Jared Goff in Week Five only for Goff to pick up the loose ball and throw it away, negating the statistic. Even without Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril to help take some of the attention away from Clark, he’s still causing problems for opposing offensive lines.

Clark has 24.5 sacks since the start of the 2016 season are tied for 10th most in the league over that span. Burkhardt believes Clark is every bit that type of talent and can command top-end pass rusher money on the open market.

“I don’t care if those guys were high first-round picks,” he said. “I don’t mind being quoted saying I absolutely put Frank in that echelon with those guys, so I’m not going to sit here and do a deal early and then watch in March when those guys get $X million a year and Frank not be in that range. Why would we do that? I feel like I have just as good of a player, and I want to be very clear, that is not a knock on anybody. Frank is on that level and I believe everybody around the league will tell you that as well.”

He made it clear that they have a great relationship with the Seahawks and have had good discussions with the team about a possible new deal with the team. However, they want any new deal to adequately represent Clark’s value and believe that deal will most likely come upon reaching free agency.