Eagles sign veteran offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark
He knows coach Nick Sirianni from their time together in Indianapolis.
The Eagles added some veteran offensive line depth Wednesday, signing 28-year-old tackle Le’Raven Clark to a one-year deal.
Like Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, Clark comes here from the Indianapolis Colts, who drafted Clark in 2016′s third round. He has good size and really long arms (6-foot-5, 311 pounds, 36⅛-inch arms), and he’s logged games at guard as well as tackle. But it would be fair to say Clark was a disappointment in Indianapolis, starting just 15 games in five seasons. The Colts played him exclusively at right guard in 2017, 318 snaps, then never played him inside again.
The Colts kept Clark on the bench or inactive for every game of 2019. He didn’t take a snap. They re-signed him to a one-year deal in 2020. Clark had played in 12 games last season, starting three, when he went down with a Week 13 left Achilles’ tear. So he is unlikely to be healthy for training camp this year.
When he’s healthy, Clark might fill the swing-tackle sub role vacated last year by Halapoulivaati Vaitai. If Clark comes back looking good and Jordan Mailata wins the left tackle job, Clark could give the Eagles enough depth to feel confident dealing 2019 first-round pick Andre Dillard. But Dillard, healthy after missing 2020 with a torn biceps tendon, could just as easily turn out to be the starter.
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Clark played at Texas Tech, and Kansas City general manager Brett Veach, then the Chiefs’ player personnel director, was scouting Clark after the 2015 season when he got his first look at Texas Tech sophomore quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs didn’t draft Clark, but they traded up in the first round to draft Mahomes in 2017, and that worked out pretty well.
Good attendance for OTAs
As expected, just about all the Eagles vets are attending this week’s OTAs in the wake of a compromise worked out between the players and Sirianni. The Eagles are ditching the June mandatory minicamp and have agreed not to work 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 this spring.
The only veteran known not to be participating is tight end Zach Ertz, who expects to be traded or released.