Ryan Clark to visit Miami Dolphins

by: Mike Berardino March 7th, 2010

As soon as the Miami Dolphins got into the Antrel Rolle sweepstakes on Thursday afternoon, Ryan Clark of the Pittsburgh Steelers started to make a lot of sense as a fallback option.

Rolle, released on Thursday by Arizona, wound up signing with the New York Giants for a record amount at the safety position — $37 million over five years — and the Dolphins wasted little time moving on to Plan B: Clark.

According to agent Joel Turner, Clark’s South Carolina-based agent, a visit was set up on Friday afternoon at 3:30, right around the time Rolle was finalizing his deal with the Giants and turning down $32 million over five years from the Dolphins.

With Karlos Dansby in town through Saturday, the Dolphins decided to hold off on the Clark visit until Monday, but the unrestricted free agent arrived in South Florida early Sunday evening and immediately expressed optimism a deal would get done.

So did Turner, who said seven other teams expressed “legitimate” interest in Clark, including a late arrival to the party on Sunday.

Turner, who also represents Dolphins backup quarterback Tyler Thigpen, is not making the trip to Davie on Monday, which could tell you this thing is essentially done already, though not necessarily.

Will this be “it” for Clark?

“You’re hopeful any of them will be ‘it,’ ” Turner said.  ”You want to make sure the organization you go to is a good place for him, for any of your clients, and that it’s a place where they’ve got an opportunity to not only contribute but to do something that could be special.

“You’re looking for a place where you’ve got an opportunity to go to an organization that truly gets it, not only in terms of what they want but how to go about getting there. Signing Dansby shows the commitment of those guys in Miami to getting there. We think this organization has got a lot of nice attributes.”

Clark, 30, recently completed his eighth NFL season since signing undrafted out of LSU in 2002. He spent two years with the Giants, including much of his rookie year on the practice squad, before Tom Coughlin released him; Clark spent two more years with the Redskins before jumping to the Steelers in 2006.

That contract was just $7 million over four years, including a $1.65 million signing bonus. Clark should do a little better this time around.

Clark, 5-11 and 200 pounds, is coming off a season in which he had to step up during the prolonged injury absence of Troy Polamalu. Clark tied a career high with three interceptions and set career bests with 88 combined tackles and eight passes defensed.

The last of those three picks came off Thigpen, ironically enough, down near the goal line to foil a Dolphins comeback in Week 17 last season. Clark outmaneuvered a slipping Ted Ginn Jr. for the ball, and the Steelers went on to win 30-24.

This came after Clark made just two combined interceptions his first three years in Pittsburgh. He was a starter on the 2008 Steelers team that brought the franchise its record sixth Super Bowl title, ironically beating out Dansby’s Arizona Cardinals in a classic finale.

His 2008 year included an epic hit on Ravens running back Willis McGahee (the ex-UM star) in the AFC Championship Game. That hit left McGahee with a concussion, a bruised spine and whiplash.

In case you’ve forgotten, it was Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, not Clark, who knocked out Pat White in the Dolphins’ final game of the 2009 season.

Clark had a career scare of his own in 2007, when he had a blood reaction during a game at Denver and had to be rushed to the hospital, where his spleen and gall bladder were removed. He missed the final 10 games that season and skipped last fall’s Steelers game at Denver due to the sickle-cell traits he must monitor.

Clark lost 30 pounds after that scare in Denver, but he returned to health the following season and started 14 games for the Super Bowl champions.

Clark and Turner apparently see the potential to reach the mountaintop once again in South Florida.

“Every organization is not on the same plane,” Turner said. “Some are trying to rebuild, some are trying to be competitive and some have a chance to compete for a championship.

“Ryan has got a Super Bowl ring from one year ago. He’ll be one of about four people that have one there in the building, I believe. Hopefully it’s a situation he’ll like and he’s a guy they’ll like.”

So how do you feel about this news? Is Clark a suitable consolation prize at free safety? Or should the Dolphins have made a bigger push for Rolle?