The NFL’s current CBA allows players — primarily late-round picks — to earn performance-based pay raises if they played a lot of snaps during the previous regular season.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero released the list of the 25 players who earned the largest chunk of that money, which is a combination of performance-based pay and the veteran pool, and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Tre Flowers came in at No. 11.
Flowers earned $340,118 in performance-based pay and another $193,666 from the veteran pool, giving him a nice raise of $533,784, sandwiched between Bengals tackle Justin Murray and Jaguars corner Tre Herndon on the list.
To get these numbers, the NFL takes a player’s regular-season playtime (total plays on offense, defense and special teams) and divides 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 pay.
Those raises do not count against the team’s salary cap.
Flowers started 15 games for the Seahawks in 2019, racking up 82 combined tackles, eight passes defended, three interceptions and two sacks.
The 24-year-old played on 1,073 total snaps, seventh on the team, which was a big part of his bonus structure.
That number may be tough to reach again in 2020, however, with the Seahawks expected to look hard for more help at the cornerback position next season.
