New York Jets defensive lineman Micheal Clemons is receiving a sizable pay raise.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini shared on social media that Clemons qualifies for a “PPE (Proven Performance Escalator) raise.”
Clemons was scheduled to make $985,000 in base salary in 2025 but will now make $3.3 million. The former Texas A&M product’s salary more than tripled.
“Players drafted in rounds 2-7 can earn PPEs in their 4th year, based mostly on playing-time formula,” Cimini explained.
Across Clemons’ first three seasons, he has received more and more playing time. In 2022 he appeared in 29% of the defensive snaps, in 2023 that jumped to 35%, and then this past season he played in a career-high 54% of the snaps.
Clemons qualified for a level one PPE raise.
According to Over The Cap, “The Level One PPE is earned if a player participates in a certain percentage of a team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or averages that percentage of offensive or defensive snaps over his entire first three years.”
If a player was selected between the third and seventh round they have to average 35% of the snaps. Clemons was selected by the Jets with the No. 117 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft.
Clemons Is Going to Get a Chance to Compete in 2025
There have been some bumps in the road for Clemons in New York.
Clemons, 27, has swore at fans in the middle of a game on the sidelines. There have also been multiple instances where Clemons has committed dumb penalties that have severely affected his team.
When you watch Clemons tape from the 2024 season, he was often caught out of position when attempting to set the edge in the run game which led to explosive plays and touchdowns in the red zone.
Despite all of that, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic recently said, “he seems likely to stick around to compete for a roster spot in camp.” If the Jets decided to part ways with Clemons this offseason they would save $3.3 million with only $191,024 in dead cap, per Spotrac.
Clemons has appeared in 49 games and has made 18 starts. During that run, Clemons has racked up 7.5 sacks, 15 quarterback hits, and 10 tackles for loss.
A Wrecking Ball Is Coming for the Jets D-Line Room
When a new regime takes over an NFL franchise no one is safe.
NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger told Jake Asman on “The Jake Asman Show” that the Jets defensive line room was “poorly built” this past season.
.@BaldyNFL didn’t like how the #Jets constructed their D-Line last season.
‘They were poorly built. I don’t wanna trash any guys that were here but they don’t have a fat guy in the middle that can eat up double teams,’ Brian Baldinger told @JakeAsman.
‘There was a time when… pic.twitter.com/xfMroAiMta
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) February 8, 2025
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There are a handful of standouts that’ll be key pieces to the rotation in 2025 like Will McDonald, Quinnen Williams, and Jermaine Johnson. However, outside of those three, everyone else has been firmly put on notice.
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