Cincinnati’s Vontaze Burfict Top Earner for Performance-Based Play

In the NFL, players are eligible to earn extra profit through a program known as “Performance-Based Play.” Essentially, this program has been put in place to compensate the athletes for athletic performance based on salaries. Think of it as a rewards system for the players making at or around the bottom-tier of salaries in the league. Approximately $110.72 million in performance-based salary upgrades will be distributed for the 2012 league year.

Performance-Based Pay is estimated by using what is known as a “player index.” The index is calculated based on a player’s regular-season playtime (total plays on offense, defense and special teams) divided by his adjusted regular-season compensation (full season salary, prorated portion of signing bonus, earned incentives, etc.). Each player’s index is then compared to those of the other players on his team to determine the amount of his pay.

Since the inception of performance-based incentives back in 2002, the NFL has doled out approximately $700 million to the incentive-based program. The NFL Players Association and the NFL instituted the program as part of the 2002 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The agreement states that any player that records playing at least one official down is eligible to receive a portion of this bonus distribution.

For the 2012 season, Vontaze Burfict of the Cincinnati Bengals is the year’s top earner. Burfict, an undrafted free-agent out of Arizona State, signed with the team for the rookie minimum salary of $390,000 last season; the deal also included a $1,000 signing bonus. The league will now be nearly doubling that amount with $299,465 as a reward for his stellar play.

Keep in mind, Burfict was once regarded as a high first-round pick, before a lack off on-field production and off-field issues arose from his collegiate career. A poor NFL Combine performance cemented Burfict’s fate as a falling prospect.

The outstanding rookie recorded 73 tackles on the year, also recovering two forced fumbles and a QB sack. Burfict had a nice year for Cincy and should be a valuable asset for their team moving forward.

Below is a list of the top earners for the 2012 NFL Season: