Tag: incentive

Twitter reacts to Chiefs DL Chris Jones’ sack vs. Chargers that earned incentive

Twitter went wild after #Chiefs DL Chris Jones sacked #Chargers QB Easton Stick to earn a $1.25 million bonus.

The Kansas City Chiefs will owe star defensive lineman Chris Jones a hefty incentive after he secured his tenth sack of the 2023 regular season against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18.

Jones held out from training camp and missed the Chiefs’ Week 1 matchup against the Detroit Lions in an effort to negotiate a better contract with Kansas City.

In the end, he got a contract incentive that would grant a $1.25 million bonus if he eclipsed the 10-sack mark on the season. He entered the Chiefs’ Week 18 matchup against Los Angeles with 9.5 sacks and managed to reach his goal late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game when he took down Chargers quarterback Easton Stick.

After this marvelous play, it is unlikely that Jones will see any more action in Week 18 as the Chiefs coaching staff looks to rest its starters ahead of the AFC playoffs.

Twitter exploded when Jones took Stick to the turf, and users on the beleaguered social media site weren’t shy in sharing their thoughts on the defensive lineman’s achievement.

Check out their top reactions below:

Foster Moreau has some challenging contract incentives in 2023

Foster Moreau has some challenging contract incentives in 2023. A productive season could earn the Saints tight end another $1 million:

What are the expectations for Foster Moreau going into 2023? Many New Orleans Saints fans didn’t expect to see him so soon after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but Moreau completed treatment in the spring, signed his contract, and has already hit the practice field working to get back in rhythm with the same quarterback he’s always caught passes from: Derek Carr, his former Las Vegas Raiders teammate.

Moreau’s coming of his best season as a pro with 33 receptions for 420 yards and a pair of touchdown catches, having converted a career-high 24 first downs and played 67.6% of their offensive snaps. Here are the milestones he’ll be chasing with the Saints in 2023, earning a $250,000 performance bonus for triggering each incentive, per The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov:

  • 65% of snaps AND 40 or more receptions
  • 75% of snaps AND 40 or more receptions
  • 50 or more receptions
  • 60 or more receptions

Those aren’t low numbers to chase, but they’re not unrealistic, either. For comparison, Juwan Johnson led the Saints’ tight ends last year with 42 receptions while playing 61.6% of their snaps. They’re going to be a more pass-happy offense with a quarterback Dennis Allen and Pete Carmichael Jr. trust under center, and Carr is known for favoring his tight ends as receivers.

Moreau received a $3.5 million signing bonus from the Saints earlier in May as well as a $1.1 million base salary (meaning his salary cap hit is set at just $1.8 million), so he could potentially earn as much as $5.6 million this season by maxing out those incentives. If he catches 60 or more passes while playing 75% or more of the Saints’ snaps on offense, he and the team will be thrilled to hand him a $1 million bonus.

That’s just easier said than done. Here’s some added context: last season, 12 different NFL tight ends caught 40 or more passes while playing 65% or more of their team’s offensive snaps, and only eight of them met the threshold for playing 75% or more of their team’s snaps on offense. They didn’t meet the snaps threshold, but 16 tight ends had 50 or more receptions, and less than half of them caught 60 or more passes:

  • Travis Kelce (110)
  • T.J. Hockenson (86)
  • Mark Andrews and Evan Engram (73)
  • Tyler Higbee (72)
  • Pat Freiermuth (63)
  • George Kittle (60)

Out of that final group, a select four also met the qualifications for snaps percentage: Kelce, Engram, Higbee, and Kittle. So the Saints are challenging Moreau not just to take another step forward as a receiver, but to continue to help the offense as their primary blocking tight end, too. With Johnson entrenched as a big-play threat and their top pass-catching option at tight end, he’ll have his work cut out for him.

But it’ll be tough to bet against Moreau after seeing him overcome so much adversity to get here in the first place. Having an established connection with Carr certainly helps his case.

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Emmanuel Sanders shares what Sean Payton told him after $500K reception

New Orleans Saints WR Emmanuel Sanders shared how Sean Payton congratulated him for his well-earned contract bonus on the Rich Eisen Show.

Emmanuel Sanders had a terrific on-field reaction to the catch that secured a $500,000 contract incentive in Week 17, but his coach one-upped him after the game. The New Orleans Saints wide receiver gushed about his first-year experience on Sean Payton’s team before sharing a quick anecdote about what Payton told him once they were flying home for the playoffs.

“Every morning I walk into work, Sean greets the entire team,” Sanders said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. “Every morning he’s judging my outfit, because I like to dress up to go to work, right? Every day he’s telling me, ‘That’s a good outfit, that’s a [expletive] outfit, that’s okay and that’s that.'”

Sanders continued, laughing: “So I get the $500 (thousand) and he comes to the back of the plane, just to mess with me, and he tells me, ‘Yeah you got your $500,000, don’t be wearing those bull [expletive] white pants anymore.'”

It’s a great story and does a lot to show how Payton is able to connect with his players, but Sanders used it to illustrate a point. He’s seen two different versions of the Saints coach in his time on the team; one of them is gregarious, a bit of a prankster, and upbeat during the week. And the other side of Payton only appears on game days, laser-focused on the matchup and hyperaware of what’s going on around him, on the sidelines and on the field.

That’s a tough act to balance, and Sanders admitted that not every coach he’s been around has pulled it off. But he’s clearly enjoyed his experience in New Orleans despite the chaos surrounding the 2020 season, and it feels safe to say he’s eager to perform under the bright lights in the playoffs — and come back for more in 2021.

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