Performance-based pay pool rewards Packers' lower-paid producers

GREEN BAY - Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers may not even know his bank account just went up $8,662.10, but you can bet that teammate Allen Lazard relished every bit of the $307,303.52 he received from the NFL’s “performance-based pay” pool.

Lazard, an undrafted free agent, started the season on the practice squad but blossomed into the team’s No. 2 receiver, finishing with 35 catches for 477 yards and three touchdowns. A minimum-wage earner, he is the kind of player who typically cashes in when it comes to performance pay.

Rodgers, one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, is not.

Through a collectively bargained agreement that went into effect in 2002, a prescribed amount of revenue is set aside each year to be distributed to players whose salary was far lower than those on his team who played around the same amount of snaps or more.

This pool is divided equally among the 32 teams but using a player index in which the number of snaps played is divided by salary, the money is distributed according to how each player’s index compares to his teammates.

According to NFL figures obtained by the Journal Sentinel, Lazard played in 42.629% of the snaps and had an adjusted salary of $502,500 in 2019. That gave him a player index of .8483, which entitled him to 6.647% of the team’s performance-based pool.

Each team was allotted $4,623,500, so Lazard wound up with a sizable take.

Rodgers, on the other hand, had an adjusted salary of $29.352 million and a player index of 0.0239, so obviously he received a lot less.

There are two performance-based pools — one is smaller and reserved for veterans — but the combined totals still favored younger players who have yet to hit free agency.

Running back Aaron Jones, for instance, was able to dip from both pools and wound up with $226,850.49. Rookie guard Elgton Jenkins tapped into just one pool but still made $200,903.96.

No. 4 on the Packers’ list was receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, whose play time dropped dramatically at the end of the season. Nevertheless, he played in 36.1% of the snaps and took home $207,230.34.

Other highly-paid players who were modestly rewarded included tackle David Bakhtiari ($19,327.83), receiver Davante Adams ($15,228.54), tight end Jimmy Graham ($11,868.71) and kicker Mason Crosby ($7,240.97).

Outside linebacker Tim Williams, who was on the roster for five weeks and played less than 1 percent of the snaps, received the lowest amount: $715.26.

None of the payments count against the salary cap.

The NFL payed out $147.952 million in performance-based pay and would increase the amount under the collective bargaining agreement extension that players are voting on this week.

Here are the all the Packers’ totals:

Allen Lazard WR $307,303.52

Chandon Sullivan CB $235,301.19

Aaron Jones RB $226,850.49

Marquez Valdes-Scantling WR $207,230.34

Elgton Jenkins G $200,903.96

Tyler Lancaster NT  $200,823.99

Jake Kumerow WR $194,923.71

Will Redmond SS $194,414.72

Jamaal Williams  RB $149,393.25

Ty Summers ILB $146,783.68

B.J. Goodson ILB $136,063.86

Robert Tonyan TE $135,780.19

Danny Vitale FB $130,971.38

Blake Martinez ILB $129,042.63

Ibraheim Campbell FS $114,774.74

Kevin King CB $104,833.17

Darnell Savage SS $10,4628.67

Jaire Alexander CB $93,806.66

Oren Burks ILB $89,364.15

Alex Light T $ 85,235.66

Tony Brown CB $78,225.00

Montravius Adams DE $75,823.96

Kenny Clark NT $73,958.04

Kyler Fackrell OLB $66,784.07

Billy Turner $64,634.30

Geronimo Allison WR $64,238.11

Marcedes Lewis TE $64,065.56

Lucas Patrick C $62,543.83

Hunter Bradley $57,630.49

Josh Jackson CB $56,108.18

J.K. Scott P $54,453.89

Adrian Amos FS $53,473.88

Dean Lowry DE $51,671.70

Tremon Smith CB  $44,590.99

Kingsley Keke DE $44,333.08

Darrius Shepherd WR $40,818.77

Raven Greene FS $37,525.33

Preston Smith OLB  $37,220.49

Jace Sternberger TE $34,471.73

Za'Darius Smith  OLB  $32,198.67

Evan Baylis TE $31,113.28

Tramon Williams CB $29,061.48

Corey Linsley C $28,038.31

Bryan Bulaga T $27,309.12

Rashan Gary OLB $23,678.29

Tra Carson RB $22,491.20

Dexter Williams RB $21,520.19

Tyler Ervin RB $21,047.18

David Bakhtiari T $19,327.83

Trevor Davis WR $18,707.93

Ka'dar Hollman  CB $16,947.66

Fadol Brown $16,263.30

Davante Adams WR $15,228.54

Jimmy Graham TE $11,868.71

Tim Boyle QB $8,716.39

Aaron Rodgers QB $8,662.10

Mason Crosby K $7,240.97

Jared Veldheer T $6,535.40

Lane Taylor G $5,826.80

Tim Williams OLB $715.262