Week 17 of the 2024 NFL regular season kicked off with two games on Christmas Day. The Detroit Lions obviously have big team goals in mind (No. 1 seed in the playoffs, going to/winning the Super Bowl), but they are keenly aware of contract bonuses players may have in play in the waning weeks of the season.
Late in last year's regular season finale, Lions' wide receiver Josh Reynolds was force-feed catches to get him to a $250,000 contract bonus for having 600 yards on the season. He had one catch for 18 yards in the game before the team's final drive, but four catches totaling 26 yards gave him 608 yards for the season.
After the game, head coach Dan Campbell explained the effort to get Reynolds that $250,000 bonus and why it was so important.
"That player does all the dirty work he does for us, all the stuff in the run game, all the blocking, all the unselfish play, then we're going to do whatever it takes to get him something", Campbell said. "That's the mindset. That's all."
2 Lions players have significant contract bonuses in-play
Ben Baby of ESPN gathered data from the Roster Management system to find contract bonuses several NFL players can earn as the regular season winds down.
Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith needs two more sacks this season to earn some extra money.
"Smith needs two more sacks to reach 10 for the season and earn $250,000. If he can somehow get four more, the Lions will pay him a $500,000 bonus. If he can hit either incentive, he'll get an additional $250,000 for the Lions' clinching a playoff berth."
To clarify, Smith needs one of his sack incentives to also get the $250,000 for the Lions earning a playoff spot.
The incentive quarterback Jared Goff can earn is far more cut-and-dry, and it actually applies to a future base salary.
"If the Lions win the Super Bowl and he has played in 50% of the offensive snaps, Goff's 2028 base salary will escalate by $1 million."
Spotrac also shows Goff can bump his 2028 base salary up $1 million "for each NFL MVP honor" or the bonus Baby outlined. Spotrac's layout of Goff's contract seems to say he can earn one or the other of the $1 million 2028 salary escalators in the same prior season, not both. Perhaps we'll find out if that's the case, and Baby did not mention the potential MVP escalator.