Indianapolis Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez is on the cusp of earning a contract incentive in today’s Week 18 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to Spotrac, baked into Sanchez’s deal is that he can earn a $50,000 bonus by finishing top five in net average on punts.
Entering this final game of the season, Sanchez is just outside of the top-five, currently sitting at No. 8 with a net average of 42.4 yards per punt, per Pro Football Reference.
Here is the list of players who are ahead of him:
1. Jack Fox: 45.8 yards
2. Logan Cooke: 44.7 yards
3. Blake Gillikin: 44.2 yards
4. Tommy Townsend: 44.0 yards
5. Michael Dickson: 43.3 yards
6. Ryan Rehkow: 43.3 yards
7. Chris Boswell: 43.0 yards
Sanchez sits less than one yard shy average-wise of cracking the top-five. Obviously, it’s not only his performance that can move him up or down this list, but also how the punters ahead of him perform as well.
Also, it’s important to note that the net average takes into account the return, so it’s not only how far Sanchez boots each punt, but the coverage team has to be positioned well and make the tackles to limit any big return opportunities.
Sanchez is in the first year of a three-year, $7.5 million deal with $2.5 million guaranteed.
Along with Sanchez, defensive end Tyquan Lewis has something to play for contract incentive-wise in this final game as well.