Ravens’ Jadeveon Clowney’s contract includes a lot of motivation

Baltimore Ravens signed edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney to provide depth but he now has the motivation to go further than that. Clowney’s base salary is $2.5 million but the incentives attached to the deal give him the ability to more than double that amount if he earns it. Last year with the Browns, Clowney had […]

Brandon Little — Ohio State Buckeyes & Cleveland Browns News Writer

Aug 23, 2023 12:59 PM EDT

Baltimore Ravens signed edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney to provide depth but he now has the motivation to go further than that.

Clowney’s base salary is $2.5 million but the incentives attached to the deal give him the ability to more than double that amount if he earns it.

Jadeveon Clowney’s incentives with the Ravens:

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.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 23, 2023

Last year with the Browns, Clowney had a down year where he produced just two sacks. He played in 63 percent of the defensive snaps, so he would have earned an extra million dollars with these contract incentives.

The year prior was one of Clowney’s best as an NFL player when he totaled nine sacks and was out there for 74 percent of the snaps.

With the Ravens, Clowney may not start a ton but he should have plenty of run on the field. Odafe Oweh and Tyus Bowser are both ahead of the former No. 1 overall pick on the depth chart.

Clowney is a run defender first off the edge, he’s very good at sealing things. He is a pass rusher second but these incentives could be that extra boost he needs. This is certainly the smallest contract that Clowney has had in the NFL and he’s nearing the end of his career in year 10. No multi-year deals are coming his way anymore; so he has to maximize his earnings while he can.

Don’t be surprised if Clowney plays in half of Baltimore’s defensive snaps and has five sacks. He has crossed that number four out of nine years in the NFL but he’s never been in this position, either.