Each year, the NFL Players Association and the NFL have a pot of money to hand out to players who over-performed their contract relative to their playing time. Essentially, it rewards players who played a lot of snaps with a bonus. This is another way the NFLPA has negotiated to get lower-level players more money outside of the NFL’s salary cap. It’s called the Performance Based Pay Benefit and the dollar figures were announced Tuesday. (Read the full list here.)
In 2020, the largest recipient on the Buffalo Bills was cornerback Taron Johnson. He earned $578,749 in addition to his base salary of $640,053, to nearly double his compensation during his third NFL season.