One of the primary appeals to building through the NFL Draft is that the talent playing on the rookie wage scale is exponentially cheaper than what a comparable player would command on a second or third contract. With that in mind, it is sensible as to why so many teams that make postseason runs do so on the back of a young, upstart quarterback — the quality of play at the sport’s most important position is the biggest competitive advantage a team can have.
And while the Dolphins didn’t have an upstart rookie contract quarterback in 2019, they did indeed have several standout players that are making the most of their playing time while doing so for cheap. There is no better example than Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker — who was a 3rd-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft and has since become one of the primary leaders of this Dolphins defense. Baker, as a 3rd-round pick, only sees a fraction of his value in his salary; but the NFL has put in place performance based compensation to help accommodate the biggest overachievers relative to their contract.
2019 was a good one for Baker, and his bank account will reflect that accordingly. The NFL released their performance-based compensation yesterday and Baker’s influx of $191,282 was among the 25 highest payouts across the entire NFL.
.@MiamiDolphins LB @Lastname_Baker earned himself an extra $191,282 for 2019 in the form of performance-based pay. The compensation in the performance-based pay program is based on playing time and salary level.
— Alain Poupart (@apoupartFins) March 12, 2020
For as effective as Baker was this past season, it could have been even better. Baker lost several turnovers on account of defensive penalties and the lack of depth on Miami’s defense served as a barrier to prevent Miami from best weaponizing their speedy linebacker. With more reinforcements around him in 2020, Baker figures to be even better in year three this season. But for now, getting six figure kickback for standing out is a nice start and not a bad consolation.
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