NFL players will receive more than $452 million in performance-based pay for their play in the 2024 season, the league announced Wednesday.
How much did Patriots players earn?
Offensive tackle Demontrey Jacobs led all Patriots with $737,221.61 in earnings last season. Jacobs became a surprise starter after the Patriots claimed him off waivers from the Broncos in late August. The 26-year-old played both tackle spots, making 13 starters in 15 game appearances. The Patriots opted to retain him as an exclusive rights free agent this offseason.
The team’s other top earners were safety Jaylinn Hawkins ($650,647.25), offensive tackle Vederian Lowe ($649,495.46), linebacker Christian Elliss: ($612,473.41) and wide receiver Kayshon Boutte ($608,520.75). Like Jacobs, most of them were forced into starting roles last season, but project to be depth pieces in 2025.
Other players who earned a notable amount of performance-based pay included wide receiver DeMario Douglas ($532,078.40), cornerback Christian Gonzalez ($256,989.84), wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk ($200,243.55) and offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor ($1,802.27). Okorafor, who left the team in September and is not returning in 2025, earned the least amount of performance-based pay on the Patriots.
Performance-based pay is a collectively bargained program that benefits all players based upon their playing time and salary levels. From the NFL: “Performance-based pay is computed by using a player index (“Index”). To calculate the Index, a player’s “PBP Playtime” (defined as the player’s regular season total plays played on offense, defense and special teams, divided by the number of plays in which the player with the most total combined plays participated on that team) is divided by his “PBP Compensation” (defined as each player’s regular season full salary, including his prorated portion of signing bonus, and earned incentives).
“Each player’s Index is then compared to those of all other players on his team to determine the amount of his performance-based pay.”
Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood led all NFL players with $1,092,206 in 2024 performance-based pay.