Three New England Patriots players earned nice chunks of change Thursday.
Center Ted Karras, cornerback J.C. Jackson and offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse all ranked among the top 25 in the NFL’s performance-based pay distributions for the 2019 season. All three also received bonuses through the league’s “veteran pool.”
Karras, who started all but one game at center after David Andrews landed on injured reserve before the season, received the sixth-highest performance-based bonus ($393,363) of any player. He also received a veteran pool payout of $242,584 for a total of $635,947. Only Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward received more ($654,750).
Jackson ranked eighth in performance-based pay at $559,036 and received $184,032 from the veteran pool. The second-year pro appeared in every game and finished tied for fourth in the NFL with five interceptions.
Newhouse, a 31-year-old journeyman, spent half the season as New England’s starting left tackle while Isaiah Wynn was on IR. He started nine games in all and appeared in 15. His $307,476 performance-based pay bump was the 22nd-highest. He received $169,375 from the veteran pool.
Here are the NFL's top 25 overall payouts from the performane-based pay pool and the veteran pool. Ted Karras ranked second overall behind KC's Charvarius Ward. J.C. Jackson was ninth. Marshall Newhouse 22nd. pic.twitter.com/z04fv4lbrJ
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) March 12, 2020
The performance-based pay system is used to reward players with lower salaries who play high snap counts. Karras played 1040 and 729 offensive snaps and earned $720,000 and $875,294 in salary, respectively. Jackson played 681 defensive snaps with a salary of $570,000.
Karras and Newhouse are impending free agents. Jackson has one year remaining on his rookie contract.
