Every year, the NFL disperses bonuses paid to players called a performance-based distribution. It comes from two funds. One is performance-based pay and the other is the veteran pool. Essentially, based on playing time and salary, they can earn extra money. The veteran pool does not include rookies.
Simply put, if a player with a lower salary plays a lot, he gets more bonus pay in this system.
Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Justin Murray benefitted greatly from this in 2019. The league announced the top 25 distributions paid out and Murray was among them.
Murray, who earned $570,000 in salary in 2019 and started 12 games at right tackle, nearly doubled his money. His performance-based distribution was $346,499 and his share of the veteran pool was $192,648, giving him a total of $539,147. Between his salary and extra bonus, he earned more than $1 million for 2019, which is very good for a player on his sixth team in four years.
He received the 10th-highest total distribution and was the only Cardinals player to make the top 25.
The individual totals for the Cardinals have not been released but other players who likely saw a decent bonus were linebacker Joe Walker, tight end Maxx Williams and receiver Damiere Byrd.
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Ep. 261
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Ep. 260
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