NFL Performance-Based Pay Distribution
Players out performing their contracts receive bonus
NFL Players will receive $134.16 million in “Performance-Based Pay” for their performance during the 2017 season, the NFL announced today. The Performance-Based Pay program is a collectively-bargained benefit that compensates all players, including rookies, based upon their playing time and salary levels.
In addition to the Performance-Based Pay pool, the NFL Players Association has elected to dedicate $35.2 million in benefits (i.e., $1.1 million per club) to fund a Veteran Performance-Based Compensation Pool (the “Veteran Pool”) for players with more than one accrued season. In total, $169.36 million will be disbursed to players under the combined pools.
Tennessee Titans’ guard QUINTON SPAIN earned the highest amount of all NFL players, both in the Performance-Based Payprogram, as well as the Veteran Pool. Under the combined pools, Spain will receive $489,782. Spain, a 2015 undrafted free agent out of West Virginia, played in 14 games for the Titans this season, starting all games in which he played. He played in 85.71% of Tennessee’s offensive plays, as well 13.08% of the Titans’ special teams plays, while earning the league minimum salary for a player with two credited seasons. See the tables below for the top 25 bonuses in each category.
Players have been paid nearly $1.4 billion cumulatively since the inception of the Performance-Based Pay program, which was implemented as part of the NFL’s 2002 Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association, and continues as part of the parties’ current agreement.
The Veteran Pool is a component of the Rookie Redistribution Fund, which is a player benefit that was created under the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NFL Players Association elected to fund the Veteran Pool for the first time in 2016 and extended the benefit for the 2017 season.
HOW PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY WORKS
Under the Performance-Based Pay program, a fund is created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation based on a comparison of playing time to salary. Players become eligible to receive a bonus distribution in any regular season in which they play at least one official down. In general, players with higher playtime percentages and lower salaries benefit most from the pools.
Performance-Based Pay is computed by using a player index (“Index”). To produce the Index, a player’s regular-season playtime (total plays on offense, defense and special teams) is divided by his adjusted regular-season compensation (full season salary, prorated portion of signing bonus, earned incentives). Each player’s Index is then compared to those of the other players on his team to determine the amount of his Performance-Based Pay.
The Veteran Pool is computed in a similar manner, with two significant modifications: 1) players with zero accrued seasons are not eligible to receive distributions, however, such players remain eligible to receive distributions under the Performance-Based Pay program; and 2) to calculate the eligible player’s Index, if the player’s full-season base salary is less than $1 million, an additional amount will be imputed so that the player’s base salary equals $1 million. By imputing a minimum of $1 million to the denominator of the Veteran Pool’s index calculation (playtime divided by salary), a slightly higher percentage of the pool is directed to high-performing veteran players whose salaries exceed $1 million but are not among the highest in the league, as contemplated by the formula. This imputation of salary is solely for the purpose of calculating distributions from the pool, and does not affect the actualsalary paid to the player under his contract.
ILLUSTRATION OF PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY SYSTEM
Each player on the same team competes for his own share of his club’s Performance-Based Pay pool. The hypothetical example in the table below illustrates how the Player Index works, using a simplified four-player team and a club bonus pool of $1,000,000. Each player receives his share of the pool depending on how his Index compares to those of his teammates.
|
|
A Playtime |
B Compensation |
C Index** (A/B) |
D % of Club Bonus Pool (C/Team Total C) |
E Hypothetical Bonus (D * $1,000,000) |
|
Player A |
50% |
$ 500,000 |
10.0 |
50% of the Club’s pool (10 out of 20) |
50% * $1,000,000 = $500,000 |
|
Player B |
50% |
$ 1,000,000 |
5.0 |
25% of the Club’s pool (5 out of 20) |
25% * $1,000,000 = $250,000 |
|
Player C |
20% |
$ 500,000 |
4.0 |
20% of the Club’s pool (4 out of 20) |
20% * $1,000,000 = $200,000 |
|
Player D |
10% |
$ 1,000,000 |
1.0 |
5% of the Club’s pool (1 out of 20) |
5% * $1,000,000 = $50,000 |
|
Team Total: |
20.0 Points |
|
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** Index is multiplied by 107for legibility purposes only
TOP 25 PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY DISTRIBUTIONS FOR 2017
|
PLAYER |
CLUB |
POS |
COLLEGE |
ROOKIE YEAR |
DRAFT ROUND |
DISTRIBUTION |
|
|
1 |
Quinton Spain |
Tennessee |
G |
West Virginia |
2015 |
UDFA |
$ 385,490.95 |
|
2 |
Wes Schweitzer |
Atlanta |
G |
San Jose State |
2016 |
6 |
$ 376,698.80 |
|
3 |
Jalen Mills |
Philadelphia |
CB |
LSU |
2016 |
7 |
$ 364,744.97 |
|
4 |
Anthony Brown |
Dallas |
CB |
Purdue |
2016 |
6 |
$ 345,299.22 |
|
5 |
Keelan Cole |
Jacksonville |
WR |
Kentucky Wesleyan |
2017 |
UDFA |
$ 344,998.87 |
|
6 |
Nicholas Morrow |
Oakland |
LB |
Greenville |
2017 |
UDFA |
$ 337,312.82 |
|
7 |
Eddie Jackson |
Chicago |
S |
Alabama |
2017 |
4 |
$ 334,782.65 |
|
8 |
John Wetzel |
Arizona |
T |
Boston College |
2013 |
UDFA |
$ 333,603.68 |
|
9 |
Kevin Byard |
Tennessee |
S |
Middle Tennessee |
2016 |
3 |
$ 333,066.93 |
|
10 |
Mike Hilton |
Pittsburgh |
CB |
Mississippi |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 327,377.67 |
|
11 |
Daryl Williams |
Carolina |
T |
Oklahoma |
2015 |
4 |
$ 321,834.89 |
|
12 |
Jayon Brown |
Tennessee |
LB |
UCLA |
2017 |
5 |
$ 321,425.69 |
|
13 |
Trevor Williams |
LA Chargers |
CB |
Penn State |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 316,820.42 |
|
14 |
Shaq Mason |
New England |
G |
Georgia Tech |
2015 |
4 |
$ 314,837.80 |
|
15 |
Ricardo Allen |
Atlanta |
S |
Purdue |
2014 |
5 |
$ 313,711.25 |
|
16 |
Dak Prescott |
Dallas |
QB |
Mississippi State |
2016 |
4 |
$ 313,406.43 |
|
17 |
Trey Hopkins |
Cincinnati |
G |
Texas |
2014 |
UDFA |
$ 310,435.00 |
|
18 |
Jesse Davis |
Miami |
G/T |
Idaho |
2015 |
UDFA |
$ 308,989.36 |
|
19 |
Spencer Pulley |
LA Chargers |
C |
Vanderbilt |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 304,021.36 |
|
20 |
Tyler Larsen |
Carolina |
C |
Utah State |
2014 |
UDFA |
$ 299,594.37 |
|
21 |
Joe Thuney |
New England |
G |
North Carolina State |
2016 |
3 |
$ 296,620.57 |
|
22 |
Ken Crawley |
New Orleans |
CB |
Colorado |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 295,826.77 |
|
23 |
Jesse James |
Pittsburgh |
TE |
Penn State |
2015 |
5 |
$ 293,971.07 |
|
24 |
Halapoulivaati Vaitai |
Philadelphia |
T |
TCU |
2016 |
5 |
$ 293,132.51 |
|
25 |
Blake Martinez |
Green Bay |
LB |
Stanford |
2016 |
4 |
$ 291,170.83 |
UDFA – Undrafted free agent
TOP 25 BONUSES IN VETERAN PERFORMANCE-BASED COMPENSATION
|
PLAYER |
CLUB |
POS |
COLLEGE |
ROOKIE YEAR |
DRAFT ROUND |
DISTRIBUTION |
|
|
1 |
Quinton Spain |
Tennessee |
G |
West Virginia |
2015 |
UDFA |
$ 104,291.40 |
|
2 |
Kevin Byard |
Tennessee |
S |
Middle Tennessee |
2016 |
3 |
$ 100,588.09 |
|
3 |
Blake Martinez |
Green Bay |
LB |
Stanford |
2016 |
4 |
$ 93,219.71 |
|
4 |
Jalen Mills |
Philadelphia |
CB |
LSU |
2016 |
7 |
$ 92,695.20 |
|
5 |
Anthony Brown |
Dallas |
CB |
Purdue |
2016 |
6 |
$ 92,391.27 |
|
6 |
Dontae Johnson |
San Francisco |
CB |
North Carolina State |
2014 |
4 |
$ 91,021.05 |
|
7 |
Graham Glasgow |
Detroit |
G |
Michigan |
2016 |
3 |
$ 89,630.21 |
|
8 |
Wes Schweitzer |
Atlanta |
G |
San Jose State |
2016 |
6 |
$ 89,366.46 |
|
9 |
Matthias Farley |
Indianapolis |
S |
Notre Dame |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 88,669.91 |
|
10 |
A.J. Cann |
Jacksonville |
G |
South Carolina |
2015 |
3 |
$ 87,905.02 |
|
11 |
Dak Prescott |
Dallas |
QB |
Mississippi State |
2016 |
4 |
$ 87,599.82 |
|
12 |
Joe Schobert |
Cleveland |
LB |
Wisconsin |
2016 |
4 |
$ 87,456.29 |
|
13 |
Trevor Williams |
LA Chargers |
CB |
Penn State |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 87,290.83 |
|
14 |
Kenny Wiggins |
LA Chargers |
G |
Fresno State |
2011 |
UDFA |
$ 87,217.41 |
|
15 |
Jesse James |
Pittsburgh |
TE |
Penn State |
2015 |
5 |
$ 84,822.88 |
|
16 |
Shaq Mason |
New England |
G |
Georgia Tech |
2015 |
4 |
$ 84,801.75 |
|
17 |
Matt Paradis |
Denver |
C |
Boise State |
2014 |
6 |
$ 84,709.48 |
|
18 |
Spencer Pulley |
LA Chargers |
C |
Vanderbilt |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 83,810.99 |
|
19 |
Jacoby Brissett |
Indianapolis |
QB |
North Carolina State |
2016 |
3 |
$ 83,750.43 |
|
20 |
Daryl Williams |
Carolina |
T |
Oklahoma |
2015 |
4 |
$ 83,592.18 |
|
21 |
Brett Jones |
NY Giants |
C |
Regina / Canada |
2015 |
UDFA |
$ 83,482.96 |
|
22 |
Joe Haeg |
Indianapolis |
G/T |
North Dakota State |
2016 |
5 |
$ 82,977.72 |
|
23 |
Ricardo Allen |
Atlanta |
S |
Purdue |
2014 |
5 |
$ 82,423.85 |
|
24 |
Patrick Robinson |
Philadelphia |
CB |
Florida State |
2010 |
1 |
$ 82,299.68 |
|
25 |
Jamon Brown |
LA Rams |
G |
Louisville |
2015 |
3 |
$ 81,340.80 |
UDFA – Undrafted free agent
TOP 25 COMBINED TOTAL (PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY AND VETERAN PERFORMANCE-BASED COMPENSATION)
|
PLAYER |
CLUB |
POS |
COLLEGE |
ROOKIE YEAR |
DRAFT ROUND |
REGULAR PBP |
VETERAN PBP |
COMBINED DISTRIBUTION |
|
|
1 |
Quinton Spain |
Tennessee |
G |
West Virginia |
2015 |
UDFA |
$ 385,490.95 |
$ 104,291.40 |
$ 489,782.35 |
|
2 |
Wes Schweitzer |
Atlanta |
G |
San Jose State |
2016 |
6 |
$ 376,698.80 |
$ 89,366.46 |
$ 466,065.26 |
|
3 |
Jalen Mills |
Philadelphia |
CB |
LSU |
2016 |
7 |
$ 364,744.97 |
$ 92,695.20 |
$ 457,440.17 |
|
4 |
Anthony Brown |
Dallas |
CB |
Purdue |
2016 |
6 |
$ 345,299.22 |
$ 92,391.27 |
$ 437,690.49 |
|
5 |
Kevin Byard |
Tennessee |
S |
Middle Tennessee |
2016 |
3 |
$ 333,066.93 |
$ 100,588.09 |
$ 433,655.02 |
|
6 |
John Wetzel |
Arizona |
T |
Boston College |
2013 |
UDFA |
$ 333,603.68 |
$ 78,150.04 |
$ 411,753.72 |
|
7 |
Daryl Williams |
Carolina |
T |
Oklahoma |
2015 |
4 |
$ 321,834.89 |
$ 83,592.18 |
$ 405,427.07 |
|
8 |
Trevor Williams |
LA Chargers |
CB |
Penn State |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 316,820.42 |
$ 87,290.83 |
$ 404,111.25 |
|
9 |
Dak Prescott |
Dallas |
QB |
Mississippi State |
2016 |
4 |
$ 313,406.43 |
$ 87,599.82 |
$ 401,006.25 |
|
10 |
Shaq Mason |
New England |
G |
Georgia Tech |
2015 |
4 |
$ 314,837.80 |
$ 84,801.75 |
$ 399,639.55 |
|
11 |
Ricardo Allen |
Atlanta |
S |
Purdue |
2014 |
5 |
$ 313,711.25 |
$ 82,423.85 |
$ 396,135.10 |
|
12 |
Trey Hopkins |
Cincinnati |
G |
Texas |
2014 |
UDFA |
$ 310,435.00 |
$ 78,705.77 |
$ 389,140.77 |
|
13 |
Spencer Pulley |
LA Chargers |
C |
Vanderbilt |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 304,021.36 |
$ 83,810.99 |
$ 387,832.35 |
|
14 |
Blake Martinez |
Green Bay |
LB |
Stanford |
2016 |
4 |
$ 291,170.83 |
$ 93,219.71 |
$ 384,390.54 |
|
15 |
Jesse James |
Pittsburgh |
TE |
Penn State |
2015 |
5 |
$ 293,971.07 |
$ 84,822.88 |
$ 378,793.95 |
|
16 |
Ken Crawley |
New Orleans |
CB |
Colorado |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 295,826.77 |
$ 78,770.57 |
$ 374,597.34 |
|
17 |
Graham Glasgow |
Detroit |
G |
Michigan |
2016 |
3 |
$ 284,719.38 |
$ 89,630.21 |
$ 374,349.59 |
|
18 |
Joe Thuney |
New England |
G |
North Carolina State |
2016 |
3 |
$ 296,620.57 |
$ 76,487.59 |
$ 373,108.16 |
|
19 |
Matt Paradis |
Denver |
C |
Boise State |
2014 |
6 |
$ 286,994.05 |
$ 84,709.48 |
$ 371,703.53 |
|
20 |
Halapoulivaati Vaitai |
Philadelphia |
T |
TCU |
2016 |
5 |
$ 293,132.51 |
$ 76,606.34 |
$ 369,738.85 |
|
21 |
Tyler Larsen |
Carolina |
C |
Utah State |
2014 |
UDFA |
$ 299,594.37 |
$ 63,648.92 |
$ 363,243.29 |
|
22 |
Matthias Farley |
Indianapolis |
S |
Notre Dame |
2016 |
UDFA |
$ 269,426.45 |
$ 88,669.91 |
$ 358,096.36 |
|
23 |
James Bradberry |
Carolina |
CB |
Samford |
2016 |
2 |
$ 279,160.17 |
$ 74,637.30 |
$ 353,797.47 |
|
24 |
Will Parks |
Denver |
S |
Arizona |
2016 |
6 |
$ 275,592.65 |
$ 72,994.20 |
$ 348,586.85 |
|
25 |
De’Vondre Campbell |
Atlanta |
LB |
Minnesota |
2016 |
4 |
$ 275,142.60 |
$ 70,155.96 |
$ 345,298.56 |
|
UDFA – Undrafted free agent |
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