The NFL will pay out $147.952 million worth of 2019 performance-based bonuses this month. Denver Broncos offensive lineman Elijah Wilkinson is among the veteran players who received the largest bonuses.
Wilkinson, who joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2017, played 82.19 percent of the team’s offensive snaps last season, which earned him a performance-based bonus of $192,217, the league announced Thursday.
That’s an increase of nearly 30 percent to Wilkinson’s 2019 salary ($645,000).
“The Performance-Based Pay program is a collectively bargained benefit that compensates all players, including rookies, based upon their playing time and salary levels,” according to a press release from the NFL.
Only 19 veterans received larger bonuses than Wilkinson. Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward earned the largest bonus in the league: $654,750.
Wilkinson is scheduled to become a restricted free agent next month and Denver is expected to place a second-round tender on him, which would give him a salary worth more than $3 million in 2020.
The bonus for Wilkinson will be paid by the league, not the Broncos.
