Denver Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton had considered reporting late to training camp because of what he described as "a stalemate" in contract negotiations. The resolution, sources told ESPN in July, was to add $1.5 million in incentives.
On Sunday, Sutton made that strategy pay off with enough receiving yards in a playoff-clinching win over the Kansas City Chiefs to trigger his final $500,000 bonus and max out those incentives.
"That was a big topic of conversation this weekend," Sutton said after the game. "I'm not going to downplay it, it's nice.
"However, the biggest thing for me was we needed to win this game. That was the most important thing to me. All week, that was the mindset, that was the motto for myself, our receiver room, our offense, our team: We have to win this game."
Sutton finished with five receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. His total for the season was 1,081, which triggered the bonus for eclipsing 1,065 yards. The reception that did it was a 32-yarder just before the half.
He would have received an extra $200,000 if he amassed 1,500 yards because the Broncos made the postseason. But he was thankful for reaching the playoffs, and didn't feel any less satisfied because the Chiefs rested most of their key starters.
The No. 7 seed Broncos face the No. 2 seed Buffalo Bills on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
"We didn't take care of the first opportunities we had [to clinch a playoff berth] with the Chargers and the Bengals, so this was a very important game," Sutton said. "We didn't care who was playing. We didn't care who the Chiefs were sitting.
"People can say what they want to say about, 'This person didn't play, that person didn't play' -- at the end of the day, it's an NFL football team."
Here's a look at how other players across the league fared with their incentives. All data is from Roster Management System.
In the millions
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith needed a solid close to the regular season to secure a future payday.
He earned $6 million in contract escalators with the team's victory over the Los Angeles Rams. By Seattle reaching 10 wins and Smith finishing with more than 4,282 passing yards and a completion percentage greater than 69.75%, the veteran quarterback will add that $6 million to a $10 million roster bonus he is set to earn in 2025.
However, there is an interesting caveat to this. For Smith to earn that money, he has to be on the Seahawks' roster by March 16. If anything, the added dollar total gives Seattle greater incentive to determine whether Smith remains the team's long-term starter.
Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller didn't wait long to cash a major incentive. A third-down sack on the first defensive series of the final game netted Miller his sixth sack of the season and an extra $1.5 million in incentives to reach a total of $4 million.
Miller received plenty of encouragement from his fellow Bills to hit the mark.
"I wasn't even thinking about it," Miller said after the game. "But everybody, my teammates, were saying, 'Just get one.'"
It's a good thing it happened when it did. Miller played only one more defensive snap the rest of the game as the Bills rested their starters for the playoffs.
New York Jets guard John Simpson pocketed $3 million by playing more than 90% of the team's offensive snaps. The playing time wasn't the only thing Simpson needed to earn the incentive. The Jets also had to improve their NFL ranking in points scored. New York jumped from 29th in the league in 2023 to 24th.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans earned a piece of history Sunday by tying Jerry Rice for the most seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards with 11. Evans didn't score, but he was tied for fourth in the league in receiving touchdowns (11) this season, and by being in the top 10, he earned an extra $666,000 in a contract incentive.
The veteran wideout was close to being in position to earn more cash, too. Had he played in at least 60% of the team's offensive snaps this season, Evans could have been in line for $500,000 for each Tampa Bay playoff victory.
However, he finished the season with 58.5% offensive playtime, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Had Evans been on the field for 26 more snaps, he would have crossed the threshold to trigger the possibility for postseason bonuses.
Six-figure rewards
Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki needed three receiving yards to hit 600 for the season and get an additional $125,000 in incentives. The Bengals didn't waste any time in making sure he got his money.
Cincinnati's first passing play of the game was a 12-yard completion to Gesicki. After the game, quarterback Joe Burrow said it was "easy" to get Gesicki the yards he needed. And he stumped for getting Gesicki even more money on a new contract with the Bengals.
"That guy was so valuable for us all year," Burrow said after the game. "And a guy, in my opinion, we need to bring back."
Two Green Bay Packers teammates were rewarded for having strong seasons. Safeties Xavier McKinney and Rashan Gary each earned a $250,000 bonus for making the Pro Bowl. In his first season with the Packers, McKinney had a staggering eight interceptions. To put that in perspective, he had nine interceptions in his previous four seasons combined, all with the New York Giants. Gary had 7.5 sacks and a forced fumble for Green Bay this season. Surprisingly, running back Josh Jacobs did not have a similar incentive, which also would have cashed as he made the Pro Bowl, too.
Los Angeles Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins needed a couple of fourth-quarter carries in the finale to hit his incentive. Dobbins' 63-yard day gave him 905 rushing yards on the season, which brought his bonus total up to $450,000. He had already earned $300,000 entering Week 18. But 7 yards gained on the Chargers' penultimate drive of the season put Dobbins over the mark.
Washington tight end Zach Ertz's sixth touchdown catch of the season netted him $250,000. He earned that in the first quarter of the Commanders' win over the Dallas Cowboys. Washington ran a clear-out for Ertz on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line, which triggered the bonus. His incentive total for the year is $750,000. He had already secured $500,000 entering Sunday's game for crossing 60 receptions and 600 receiving yards.
A dollar short
Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush surprisingly did not get the start in Week 18. There was speculation this could have stemmed from a playing-time incentive he did not reach.
Had he played 55% of the team's offensive snaps this season, he would have earned an additional $250,000.
Rush finished the season with 48.9% playing time, which got him $250,000 for crossing the 45% threshold. Had he played all the offensive snaps in the Cowboys' loss to the Washington Commanders, he would have finished the year with 55.4%.
After the game, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones downplayed the incentive as the reason Dallas started Trey Lance.
"I didn't even know about it until I read about it," Jones said.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray needed a bigger performance in the finale to earn $750,000. But he finished 28 yards and a touchdown shy of hitting 600 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns on the season. He had three carries for 22 yards in a win over the San Francisco 49ers, but was 25-of-32 passing for 242 yards and four touchdowns.
Titans running back Tony Pollard needed 1,110 rushing yards to secure a $250,000 bonus. But he fell 21 yards short at the end of the season. It wasn't for a lack of effort. He had 22 carries in the finale against the Houston Texans. But he managed only 2.8 yards per attempt and had minus-24 expected rushing yards, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders missed out on a $225,000 base salary escalator. He needed 40% defensive playing time and three sacks on the season. However, he finished with 39.4% of the team's snaps and just two sacks.
ESPN NFL Nation reporters Todd Archer, Turron Davenport, Rob Demovsky, Mike DiRocco, Alaina Getzenberg, Brady Henderson, John Keim, Jeff Legwold, Katherine Terrell and Josh Weinfuss contributed to this report.
