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Clarett Passes on Signing Bonus
Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:42 pm
by vtfootball07
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Clarett wants to prove he's worthy of first-round money
By John Clayton
ESPN.com
Maurice Clarett, who legally challenged the league for early entry, still hasn't given up the thought he should have been a first-round choice in the NFL.
Instead of suing the league, Clarett came up with a novel approach. He is putting his money where his mouth is. On Thursday, he signed a four-year contract in which he gave up the $410,000 of guaranteed money in order to secure an incentive-laden deal that could eventually earn him $7 million.
The complex contract, which includes more than $5 million of performance escalators, forced the Broncos and Clarett's agents to negotiate well into Wednesday night. After a few hours of sleep, they resumed their talks Thursday morning and reached agreement by the afternoon. Clarett was the last pick in the third round of the draft.
The contract was negotiated by Steve Feldman, Josh Luchs and Clarett's attorney and advisor, David Kenner.
"This deal struck gives Maurice the opportunity to be paid like the first-round draft choice he was born to be," Feldman said.
Specifics of the contract are sketchy, but it works something like this. If Clarett gains 1,000 yards, he could hit an escalator worth more than $1 million, almost three times what he would have made in a signing bonus given to him by the Broncos.
The more he rushes for, the more he makes. He can max out at around $7 million.
This was Clarett's gamble. He has the confidence he can gain the yards and hit the $7 million figure. Rollovers give him a chance to make the big bumps in salary if he doesn't do it as a rookie.
To further show his commitment, he accepted no guarantees. The $410,000 the Broncos were willing to give him Thursday was put into workout bonuses in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Clarett wants to prove he's a first-round talent. If he runs like a first-rounder, he could be paid like a first-rounder instead of a third-rounder.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2119064
Only time will tell how this gamble pays off for Clarett, but I am impressed by his confidence given the log jam that Denver seems to have at RB.
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:04 am
by Chris Luva Luva
I was one of the few who believe in his sincerity when he apologzied for his actions. However I believe he deserved what he got and thats a lower draft status and less money.
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 7:23 am
by Justice Hog
Frankly, I really like the idea of draft picks getting less "guaranteed" money upfront and, instead, having their contracts incentive based. That way, they'll have to perform well to get paid.
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:31 am
by BernieSki
I also like the idea of players getting paid performance escalators, I wish every team would start pushing in that direction. That would accomplish several things; you would get what you paid for, players would play harder, and a team could cut there losses with little to no impact.
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:44 pm
by HailSkins94
No way he will play infront of Tatum Bell unless Bell gets hurt.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 5:44 pm
by REDEEMEDSKIN
Justice Hog wrote:Frankly, I really like the idea of draft picks getting less "guaranteed" money upfront and, instead, having their contracts incentive based. That way, they'll have to perform well to get paid.
Isn't this also a plus for the Broncos organization? If I'm not mistaken, incentives don't count against the cap, right?
It's too bad that this sounds a little too much like the Ricky Williams/Master P deal from a few years back.
Hopefully, Clarrett does enough to get paid.
Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:32 am
by ii7-V7
Unreached incentive don't count against the cap. They count only if the player reaches the set incentive goals. There is also some funky thing by which you can get a credit to the following years cap if the player doesn't reach the incentive. Thats why if you look at Philly's Cap Space last yar (Before they sign Kearse and TO) it was higher that the league average. They always put ridiculous and unlikely incentive's clauses in the contract. I wouldn't be surprised if Greg Lewis got an incentive bonus if he reached 2000 yards and 20 touchdown recieving.
Chad
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 11:12 am
by skinsfano28
this is the way contracts should be handled. play well, get paid, don't play well, you deserve to not get paid. this way, it bodes well for both the player and the organization, and it offers more of an incentive to the player to actually play the game he claims to love.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 12:37 am
by andyjens89
maurice clarett is gonna be such a beast