The Bucks don’t have many players with performance bonuses or escalators attached to their contracts. These bonuses and escalators are not included in rookie contracts, are rarely offered on veterans’ one-year contracts, and are typically never offered to veterans signed as backups.
However, we sometimes see veterinarian beginners with multi-year contracts have additional incentives built into their contracts to give them the opportunity to make more money. From a team’s perspective, these bonuses and escalators are often phrased as not having to be factored into the salary cap in the year they are earned. These are called “unlikely to be earned” bonuses. If a player did not achieve a bonus trigger in the previous year, they will be classified as such. If he reaches the milestone, the team will be charged a bonus based on next year’s salary cap.
For example, if a quarterback earns a $100,000 bonus for throwing 30 touchdowns, the bonus would be considered NLTBE if he threw fewer than 30 touchdowns in the previous year. If he threw 30 or more touchdowns the previous year, the bonus would be considered “likely to be earned” and teams would have to factor it into their salary cap calculations. If he doesn’t reach the milestone, the team will receive a salary cap bonus credit for next year.
According to Over The Cap, four Bucks players have performance bonuses and escalators in their current contracts. This is by player.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield
Bucks QB Baker Mayfield – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Baker Mayfield’s performance bonus is the strongest of the group. There are nine different bonus triggers, with a total of up to $5 million to be won.
- $500,000 if you rank in the top 10 in the NFL or top 5 in the NFC in passer rating (minimum of 224 pass attempts)
- $500,000 if he ranks among the top 10 in the NFL or top 5 in the NFC in touchdowns and if he or his team improves in this area or earns Player of the Year honors.
- $500,000 if you are in the top 10 in the NFL or top 5 in the NFC in passing yards and you or your team improve in this area or earn player honors.
- $500,000 if you rank in the top 10 in the NFL or top 5 in the NFC in pass completion percentage (minimum of 224 pass attempts)
- $500,000 if you finish in the top 10 in the NFL or top 5 in the NFC in yards per pass (minimum of 224 pass attempts)
- $750,000 for improvement in team average net rushing + wild card wins (75% playing time)
- Division Round (75%) $750,000 in playing time
- Win the Conference Championship Round (75%) $500,000 in Playtime
- $500,000 for Super Bowl win (75%) playing time
Before looking at each bonus, I would like to note that the touchdown and yardage incentives are worded specifically to keep them as NLTBE. Last year, Mayfield finished ninth in the NFL with 4,044 passing yards and seventh with 28 touchdowns. And while Mayfield became a Pro Bowler in 2023, he wasn’t originally selected. He was added after other players opted out of the Honor Match.
By phrasing these specific incentives in terms that require either the team or Mayfield himself to improve, or to be more likely to be voted Pro Bowl or All-Pro in the initial selection process. , ensuring that he was technically ineligible for the tournament. Last year’s incentives.
With two games remaining in the season, Mayfield currently ranks 6th in the NFL in passer rating (103.5), 3rd in touchdowns (34), 4th in passing yards (3,920), and 3rd in completion percentage (70.9%). He ranks 9th in yards per attempt. (7.7). The Bucs also improved their average rushing yards from 88.8 to 143.7 yards per game.
Mayfield is considered a favorite to earn a passer rating bonus. He’s already surpassed last year’s touchdown total and likely earned a touchdown bonus as well. If he continues to average 261.3 yards per game, he will be on pace to throw for 4,443 yards this season and earn a yardage bonus.
Completion bonuses only seem to compensate for that. The two statistically most notable incentives are the yards per attempt bonus, which is currently just outside the top 10 in the NFL but outside the top 5 in the NFC, and the rushing bonus associated with the wild card. Improvement incentive. win. Still, assuming he maintains his yards-per-attempt incentive, the Bucs are scheduled to cash in another $2.5 million on top of the $30 million they already paid him this year. That’s not a bad (belated) Christmas bonus!
The best part for Baker is that if the Bucks make it to the postseason, he still has a remaining bonus opportunity depending on his playoff success.
All of these bonuses are NLTBE, so the Bucks will have to factor in all the bonuses Mayfield will earn against the 2025 salary cap. That means assistant general manager Mike Greenberg will have between $2.5 million and $5 million in team funds. Available space estimated at $25 million Baker’s bonus from this year.
Greenberg and Mayfield are no strangers to this setup, as they had several NLTBE bonuses built into their 2023 contracts. Mayfield was able to accomplish much of that.
WR Mike Evans
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and WRs Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Mike Evans has four bonus opportunities this year, potentially totaling $4 million in extra income for the prolific wide receiver.
- If you finish in the top 10 in receiving yards, you’ll earn $666,666.
- If you finish in the top 10 in receiving touchdowns, you will earn $6,666,666.
- If you finish in the top 10 in reception, you will earn $666,668.
- $2 million divided into $500,000 based on team’s number of playoff wins
Evans finished ninth in receiving yards and tied for first in touchdowns last year, so both receiving yards and touchdown bonuses count as LTBE. Evans has missed 4.5 games this year with a hamstring injury, but is still playing for one of those incentives.
Evans currently ranks 31st in the NFL with 818 receiving yards. He currently has a 211-yard lead over Terry McLaurin, who ranks 10th. It’s hard to imagine them rising that far in the standings after just two games, but that doesn’t mean the possibility is completely eliminated. He has 57 receptions, 32 behind Travis Kelce, who ranks 10th. That seems a little out of reach.
But you may or may not know that despite missing time, Evans is tied for fifth in the NFL with nine touchdown catches. This is likely to be a reward for the future Hall of Famer. And like Mayfield, Evans still has a chance at $2 million based on the Bucs’ playoff fortunes.
And since Evans is unlikely to hit the receiving yardage bonus, the Bucs could get a $666,666 salary cap credit in 2025.
S Jordan Whitehead
Bucks S Jordan Whitehead – Photo Credit: USA Today
Jordan Whitehead has no bonus in 2024, but his two-year contract included five performance escalators worth a total of $1.5 million. The escalator works as your next year’s salary increases from where you earned it. Effectively, he had the opportunity this year to increase his salary and roster bonus for 2025 from $4.5 million to $6 million.
- $250,000 for 3 interceptions
- 3 interceptions, $250,000, Bucks in playoffs
- $250,000 for 3 bags
- 3 sacks, $250,000, Bucks advance to playoffs
- $500,000 to appear in the Pro Bowl as a starter or backup
Whitehead’s season hasn’t gone according to plan. He hasn’t recorded a sack or an interception this year and is currently on injured reserve. He just started practicing before returning this week, so there’s a good chance he could play in a regular-season game or two, but that escalator doesn’t seem to be within reach just yet. However, he once had three interceptions in one game while with the Jets.
NT Vita Vea
Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
Vita Vea’s contract includes one escalator. If he wins it, his salary will increase significantly in 2025.
- $500,000 if selected to the Pro Bowl.
Among inside defensive linemen, Baer currently ranks ninth in the NFL in sacks and fifth in the NFC with six sacks. They also rank eighth in the NFC in quarterback pressures with 41. There is stiff competition for top honors among defensive tackles in the NFC, and Vea will have to rank above stars like Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence, Coby Turner and Jalen Carter. and Alim McNeil, who is currently on injured reserve.
However, it’s also possible that Bea gets a few sacks in his final two games in order to help make the Pro Bowl in 2025 and receive a big salary. As of this writing, he currently has the most votes in the competition. NFC defensive tackle position.
Bucks pay for performance
The Bucs use these incentives to help players improve their financial outcomes with high-end performance. They also use this as another type of trigger to pay players within a year, while also pushing the cap hit into future years where they have more financial flexibility.
If you look at how the team phrased some of Baker Mayfield’s incentives this year, no matter how well he plays, there’s still a large amount of dead cap left in this year’s cap with bonuses factored in. You can see that this is so that you don’t have to. Hit to pay back. Tampa Bay also used this mechanism last year when their cap position was extremely limited, allowing lifetime book Lavonte David to make $7.325 million despite signing with a base of just $4.5 million. I was able to do it.
Contract extensions are looming in 2025 with the possibility of re-signing right tackle Luke Godeke, tight end Cade Otton, cornerback prospect Zion McCollum and wide receiver Chris Godwin. It is not inconceivable that the number of these players will increase in the future. Bucks.
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