Josh Allen and the Buffalo BIlls have beaten playoff No. 1 seeds Kansas City and Detroit. (AP … [+]
National Football League stars Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield and Saquon Barkley are in position to make their best seasons even better.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Allen, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Mayfield and Philadelphia Eagles running back Barkley are among the handful of players who can earn significant bonus money based on individual and team postseason performances and/or league honors.
Six of the 14 playoff quarterbacks are among those who can benefit, also including Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, Detroit’s Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert.
Bonuses are not exclusive to super stars. Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David, for example, also can collect. David’s 2024 deal includes an additional $1 million in potential bonus money. Agency1 Athlete Management Group negotiated that deal.
Allen stands to gain the most. He could make as much as $12.5 million if the Bills get to the Super Bowl and hs is the league MVP.
Josh Allen
QB, Buffalo Bills
2024 salary: $60 million
Potential bonus: $12.5 million
The fine print: Allen signed a six-year, $258 million extension in 2021 that includes a number of avenues to extra cash. Most involve playing 60 percent of the Bills’ regular-season snaps, which he has met. Allen can $1 million if the Bills win in the AFC title game, $2.5 million is the Bills win the Super Bowl and $1.5 million if he is named the league MVP.
Josh Allen (17) is the favorite to win his first NFL MYP award. (AP Photo/ Jeffrey T. Barnes)
His 2025 contract will escalate by $2.5 million with an AFC title win and another $5 million with a Super Bowl win. He is currently scheduled to earn $14.5 million in 2025 because of the way the deal was structured to accommodate his ability to opt out after the 2025 season.
Baker Mayfield
QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2024 salary: $30 million
Potential bonus: $2.5 million
The fine print: Mayfield’s three-year, $100 million extension signed before this season includes an opt out after this season is he chooses to walk away from a $30 million salary in 2025 and $40 million in 2026.
He already has earned $1 million in regular-season incentives and his can max out at $2.5 million if the Bucs win the Super Bowl. Along the way, he can earn $500,000 with a wild card victory, $1.25 million with a division round victory $1.75 million for the NFL title. Those bonuses are not cumulative.
Justin Herbert and coach Jim Harbaugh have returned the Chargers to the playoffs. (AP Photo/Vera … [+]
Justin Herbert
QB, Los Angeles Chargers
2024 salary: $56,600 million
Potential bonus: $2.5 million
The fine print: Herbert’s five-year, $262.5 million extension signed in 2023 includes language that will pay him $1.25 million apiece for victories in the AFC title game and the Super Bowl game provided he takes 50 percent of the Chargers’ snaps.
Jared Goff
QB, Detroit Lions
2024 salary: $80.611 million
Potential bonus: $2 million
The fine print: Goff’s 2028 salary, now scheduled to be $47 million, will escalate by $1 million for each occurrence of being named NFL MVP or winning the Super Bowl. He has an opt out after the 2027 season.
Jared Goff helped the Detroit Lions to the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Mike Evans
WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2024 salary: $23 million
Potential bonus: $2 million
The fine print: Evans already has benefitted. He added a $3 million to his $18 million by finishing with at least 70 receptions, 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He enters the postseason at 74/1,004/11, and he will earn $500,000 apiece for a wild card, division round, conference title game and Super Bowl win.
Patrick Mahomes will have a week off before the Chiefs open their Super Bowl defense. (AP … [+]
Patrick Mahomes
QB, Kansas City Chiefs
2024 salary: $45.75 million
Potential bonus: $1.25 million
The fine print: Mahomes’ 10-year, $450 million contract extension in 2020, after he won the first of his three Super Bowl, contains two annual escalators: 1) $1.25 million for winning the MVP and making the AFC championship game, and 2) $1.25 million for winning the Super and playing 50 percent or regular-season or Super Bowl snaps. He can reach the second.
Jalen Hurts
QB, Philadelphia Eagles
2024 salary: $64.3 million
Potential bonus: $1 million
The fine print: Hurts’ salaries in the final four seasons of his five-year $255 million extension will increase by $500,000 for every Super Bowl win and for every MVP award he receives during the length of the deal.
Lavonte David sacks Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Lavonte David
LB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2024 salary: $8.5 million
Potential bonus: $1 million
The fine print: It never hurts to have savvy representation. Lavonte returned to the Bucs for his 13th season on a one-year contract that includes bonuses worth $250,000 apiece for appearances in the NFC wild card game, the division round, the conference title game and the Super Bowl.
Saquon Barkley
RB, Philadelphia Eagles
2024 salary: $13.75 million
Potential bonus: $500,000
The fine print: Barkley already has earned an extra $750,000 in bonus money for for exceeding 2,000 yards rushing and make the Pro Bowl, and he seems a shoo-in to receive another $500,000 for making first-team All Pro, which will be announced shortly. He can add $250,000 apiece if the Eagles win the NFC title game and the Super Bowl.
Read the full article here