FanHouse

To you, me and almost everyone else, Sunday's Cardinals-Rams game is meaningless. But don't even think of telling that to Kurt Warner.

Warner, the Cardinals' quarterback, can earn up to $1.5 million in bonuses, depending on how he and a few other NFL quarterbacks play on Sunday. Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reports that Warner's contract contains clauses that give him $500,000 bonuses if he finishes the season with a passer rating of 90.0 or above, and if he ranks in the top 10 in the NFL in passing yards, touchdown passes and yards per attempt. The total bonus can be no more than $1.5 million.

Currently, Warner's rating is exactly 90.0. He's 12th in passing yards, ninth in passing touchdowns and eighth in yards per attempt. So as of right now, he's slated to get the full $1.5 million.

But a bad game statistically on Sunday could drop Warner's passer rating and yards per attempt, and good games by other NFL quarterbacks could keep him out of the Top 10 in touchdowns and yards, although he's far enough ahead of No. 11 in touchdowns that he's got that one just about wrapped up.

At the start of this season, the Cardinals surely thought Matt Leinart would be their starter all year, and that Warner wouldn't come close to costing them $1.5 million in bonuses. This season hasn't quite gone as planned, though, and Warner has earned every penny he's made this year.