Packers OL Jon Runyan Jr. earns proven performance escalator, bumps base salary in 2023

Jon Runyan Jr’s base salary is getting a bump entering the 2023 season after the Packers OL hit the proven performance escalator during his first three NFL seasons.

Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jon Runyan Jr. earned a bump in base salary for the 2023 season thanks to the proven performance escalator (PPE), a provision in the CBA that allows draft picks outside the first round to increase base salary in the fourth year of a rookie deal based on playing time and performance during the player’s first three seasons.

Runyan earned a first-level escalator after playing at least 35 percent of the Packers’ offensive snaps during at least two of his first three seasons. As a result, his base salary in 2023 increased to $2,745,000. His new cap hit next season will be $2,788,670, per Over the Cap.

Runyan, the 192nd overall pick in 2020, played 94 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in 2021 and 96 percent in 2022.

Runyan is the only player from the Packers’ 2020 draft class to earn the escalator. He’s also one of just eight sixth-round picks from the NFL’s 2020 draft to hit at least the first escalator.

Runyan has played 1,555 snaps at left guard and another 703 at right guard since joining the Packers.

From the 2021 class, offensive lineman Royce Newman will hit at least the first-level escalator in 2024 after playing 97 percent of snaps in 2021 and 41 percent of snaps in 2022. Center Josh Myers, who played 100 percent of snaps in 2022, will also be expected to hit the first-level escalator.

The second-level escalator requires playing at least 55 percent of snaps in all three seasons, while the third-level escalator is reserved for players who earn a Pro Bowl selection on the original ballot in any of the first three seasons.

In recent years, running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams, receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins hit proven performance escalators for the Packers.

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Packers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling earns proven performance escalator

Packers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling gets a base salary bump in 2021 via the proven performance escalator for rookie contracts.

The last three seasons earned Green Bay Packers receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling a nice pay bump for the fourth and final season of his rookie contract.

Valdes-Scantling, a fifth-round pick in 2018, hit the requirements of the league’s “proven performance escalator,” which will raise his base salary to $2,183,000 in 2021.

Under the NFL’s new CBA, the escalator is now available to all players drafted outside of the first round. The base salary raise provides earning opportunities for players who miss out on the financial rewards of being a first-round pick but still end up playing vital roles during their rookie contract.

Valdes-Scantling earned the first level of escalator, upping his base salary in 2021 by $1,263,000.

Any player drafted in the third round or later can earn the escalator by playing at least 35 percent of his team’s offensive or defensive snaps during at least two of his first three NFL seasons or by playing at least 35 percent of the total offensive or defensive snaps over the entire three-year period. Valdes-Scantling, a fifth-round pick in 2018, played over 35 percent of the Packers’ offensive snaps during each of the last three seasons and averaged nearly 65 percent of the total offensive snaps overall.

Over the Cap has a full list of players earning the escalators from the 2018 draft. Valdes-Scantling was the only Packers player to earn the escalator.

While Valdes-Scantling got a well-deserved bump in pay, the escalator did raise his cap hit in 2021 by almost $1.3 million.

Last season, running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams both earned the escalator.

Of the Packers’ draft picks in 2019, only offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins is currently eligible to earn the proven performance escalator for 2022.

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3 Seattle Seahawks set to earn performance raises in Year 4

Shaquill Griffin, Chris Carson and Tedric Thompson are all set to receive salary increases to $2.147 million dollars for the 2020 season.

Three Seattle Seahawks – cornerback Shaquill Griffin, running back Chris Carson and safety Tedric Thompson – will earn a hefty raise heading into the 2020 season.

Per the NFL’s proven performance escalator, the trio’s base salary will increase to $2.147 million dollars, up from $767,000 for Griffin and $735,000 for each Carson and Thompson.

The PPE kicks in for any player entering the fourth year of their contract who was drafted between rounds three and seven and who played in 35 percent of the team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of the last three years, or 35 percent of the team’s total snaps across the same period.

Carson suffered a season-ending injury in Week 16 but rushed for 1,230 yards and seven touchdowns last year, more than proving his worth as a former seventh round pick.

Griffin made his first Pro Bowl appearance on the heels of an excellent season, where he finished third in the league with 14 pass breakups.

Thompson began the year as the team’s starting free safety, but struggled mightily in the role before going on the injured reserve in late October with a shoulder injury.

The salary bump is non-guaranteed, which won’t be an issue for Carson or Griffin but could be for Thompson, who is not expected to be a starter next season and could be a cut-candidate in order to save the Seahawks a little over $2 million dollars in cap space.

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