The rainy-day game on Saturday meant almost nothing to the Baltimore Ravens, who had already secured the top seed in the AFC, but it meant a great deal to Ravens edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
Three-quarters of a million dollars, to be exact.
To increase his bonus from $1 million bonus to $1.75 million Clowney needed just half a sack in the regular-season finale to reach his ninth of the season.
Instead, he got a full sack to finish the season with 9.5 and is now a lot richer.
Clowney’s one-year contract with the Ravens promised $2.5 million, with the possibility of a $1 million bonus for seven sacks, and $1.75 million for nine.
Though it’s common for teams to add incentives into contracts, many goals are written to be nearly impossible to reach.
The former No. 1 overall pick hadn’t reached nine sacks since 2021. Last year, while playing in Cleveland, he had just two.
It was possible the Ravens didn’t expect him to reach his bonus either.
But with under a minute left in the second quarter of the Steelers’ 17-10 win, Clowney sacked Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph and earned a whopping $750,000.
And he celebrated accordingly.
The money-making sack left Clowney singing in the rain, dancing around and flaunting his excitement with teammates, who high-fived him and laughed.
Even the crowd caught wind of the news and joined in festivities.
As for the Steelers the win kept their playoff hopes alive, but later in the game, they lost star linebacker T.J. Watt, who exited the game with a knee injury.
Watt went down in the third quarter when Baltimore quarterback Tyler Huntley rolled out for a pass that was batted down by Steelers tackle Montravius Adams.
Adams’ momentum threw him into Watt’s left knee.
After being examined in the medical tent, Watt was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Though they would be without Watt, the Steelers now have three possible paths to a playoff berth.
They will advance if either the Jaguars lose to or tie the Titans or if the Bills lose to the Dolphins. They will also make it if Saturday night’s game between the Colts and Texans ends in a tie.
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