The Baltimore Ravens were in dire need of adding some warm bodies to their pass-rushing unit and that's what they did last week as they signed veteran EDGE and former no. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney.
Clowney, who has not secured a multi-year deal since his rookie contract expired nearly half a decade ago, signed another single-season pact with the Ravens following two campaigns in Cleveland.
After an initial figure of $6 million was reported hours after he signed the deal, the final quirks and details of the contract emerged on Wednesday, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2.
#Ravens Jadeveon Clowney one-year, $6M max deal: $1.165M base salary (fully guaranteed skill, injury, salary cap), $1M signing bonus, per game active roster bonus up to $340K; $500K sacks incentive for 5 or more sacks, $1M for 7 or more sacks, $1.75M if 9 or more sacks, max…
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 23, 2023
It turns out Clowney did in fact sign a one-year, six-million deal with the Ravens, although those terms are at the absolute maximum money the veteran rusher can reach through the season if he accomplishes all of the incetives included in the contract.
Field Yates of ESPN shared similar information to the one first reported by Wilson, breaking down the bonuses nicely.
Jadeveon Clowney’s incentives with the Ravens:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 23, 2023
5 sacks - $500k or
7 sacks - $1m or
9 sacks - $1.75M
50% playtime - $500k or
60% playtime - $1m or
65% playtime - $1.75m
A max of $3.5M incentives on top of the $2.5M in base value.
The only money Clowney has already pocketed in guaranteed cash is $2.5M, consisting of a $1.17M base salary and a $1.34M signing bonus.
After that, though, the Ravens turned the deal into a cupcake of a contract with increasing bonuses spread all over it to make it all a huge win for the organization considering the talent of the player they signed and how much he'll need to do if he wants to earn all of the dough.
The Ravens are demanding Clowney to sack opposing quarterbacks five, seven, and/or nine times if he wants to add varying amounts of money to his bank account.
Baltimore also added similar increasing clauses attached to his play time, something Clowney is definitely not guaranteed to get if David Ojabo and Odafe Oweh retain their starting OLB roles, leaving Clowney out and available for limited situational appearances.
All things considered, the Ravens clearly came out as the winners of this negotiation, let alone knowing Clowney's coming off two years in which the Cleveland Browns paid him $9 and $10 million respectively.