Packers Rumors: Kenny Clark's 5th-Year Contract Option Exercised for 2020 Season

The Green Bay Packers reportedly exercised the fifth-year option in the rookie contract of defensive tackle Kenny Clark for the 2020 NFL season.

Field Yates of ESPN provided the update Wednesday.

Clark, a first-round pick in the 2016 draft out of UCLA, made a limited impact as a rookie. He's shined with 10.5 sacks from the interior across the past two seasons, though.

The 23-year-old California native registered 55 total tackles, six sacks, three passes defended and two fumble recoveries across 13 appearances in 2018. Pro Football Focus graded him as the league's ninth-best interior defender last season.

Clark will represent one of the NFL's best bargains in 2019 with a $2.98 million cap hit (via Spotrac), assuming he can match or exceed his production last year. His success over the past two seasons also made the decision to exercise the fifth-year option an easy one.

Although he's provided the Packers with terrific value during his rookie deal, the nose tackle said late last season he's still working to prove the team right for taking him early in 2016.

"I wanted to be great in the league and everything. But being a first-round pick, they bring you in here to be leader, to be a great player, and they want you to be special," Clark told reporters. "I've just got to just keep working towards that and be the great player that the Packers want you to be."

He'll continue to play a critical role in the middle of Green Bay's defensive line for at least two more years, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him earn his first Pro Bowl appearance in the process.