Ravens quarterback Matt Schaub is getting a nice payday for little work in Baltimore this season.
Schaub signed a one-year contract with the Ravens this year that gave him a $1 million signing bonus and a $1 million base salary. He also has incentives including an extra $1 million if he plays 10 percent of the Ravens’ offensive snaps this season.
As noted by the Baltimore Sun, via Pro Football Focus, Schaub has already played 140 snaps this year. If the Ravens play their average number of snaps in their final two games, they’ll finish the season with 1,136 offensive plays. That would put Schaub comfortably above the 10 percent he needs for that extra $1 million.
So Schaub is likely to finish this season having played two games, thrown three touchdown passes and four interceptions, and collected $3 million. Nice work if you can get it.
At the time that the Ravens signed Schaub, of course, they thought they’d be a playoff team and hoped that if Joe Flacco got hurt, Schaub would be able to keep the team afloat in Flacco’s absence. As it turned out, the Ravens were already out of contention when Flacco got hurt, and Schaub didn’t play well in relief of Flacco before getting hurt himself.
In hindsight, the Ravens would have been better off signing a young quarterback at a minimum salary. Instead, they gave Schaub a fairly significant contract on top of the $14.55 million cap hit Flacco has, and for all that money they’re spending on the quarterback position, they’re now 4-10 and down to Jimmy Clausen at quarterback.
