Jeromey Clary Earns Extra Money

San Diego Chargers tackle Jeromey Clary earned the top figure in the NFL’s “Performance-Based Pay” system that awards players for playing time based upon their salary level.

Approximately $105 million of Performance-Based Pay was distributed to players in the system for their performance during the 2008 playing season. Jeromey was a 2006 sixth-round draft selection from Kansas State and earned $405,859 in additional pay.

Performance-Based Pay was created as part of the NFL’s 2002 Collective Bargaining Agreement extension with the National Football League Players Association. The system creates a fund used to supplement player compensation based on a comparison of playing time to salary. This program will stay in place through the remaining years of the CBA in which a Salary Cap exists. In 2009, the Performance-Based Pay fund will be approximately $3.5 million per club, which is a five percent increase over the 2008 fund. Players become eligible to receive Performance-Based Pay in any regular season in which they play at least one official down.

Under the system, Performance-Based Pay is computed by using a “player index.” To produce the index, a player’s regular-season playtime (total plays on offense, defense and special teams) is divided by his adjusted regular-season compensation (full season salary, prorated portion of signing bonus, earned incentives). Each player’s index is then compared to those of the other players on his team to determine the amount of his pay. Interesting, eh?

Source: NFL Media, Photo: Newscom