FanPost

Jared Gaither Hits The Jackpot!

The NFL released its list of the top 25 players who earned performance bonuses for the 2008 season and our guy at left tackle, Jared Gaither, rolls in at lucky number 13! Performance bonuses are based on a pool of money that each team sets aside and is then determined by the number of players on that team who reached those clauses in their contracts. Then, depending on the clause, it is divided by pre-determined percentages, which is actually not related to the players base salaries, but on actual regular season playtime.

It is an extremely confusing and deliberate formula, but resulted in Gaither receiving a bonus of almost as much as his regular salary. His salary for 2008 was $374,680 and his Performance-based pay was $301,856, resulting in a single year total of $676,536, not bad for a 23 year old kid, eh? San Diego Chargers tackle, Jeromey Clary topped the list with a performance-based bonus of $405,859.

While Gaither is not exactly at the bottom of the NFL salary food chain, he is among the lower paid Ravens. However, Jalen Parmele, a reserve running back is the bottom feeder on the Ravens at a measely $295,000, while DE/LB Terrell Suggs topped it at a Franchise Tagged best of $8,475,000, just above the slightly more than $8,000,000 that recently departed CB Chris McAlister received for sitting on the bench injured and most of the season. To see all the Ravens 2008 salaries, click here.

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