<
>

Darius Slay, Nevin Lawson closing in on $550K in incentives

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The numbers are often thrown out to the public when a player signs a contract – X amount of years for X million dollars – and often, those players don’t see the full life of the deal. It’s one of the common and underreported things during every NFL offseason.

But there’s another part of it, too – a part that could come into play for some of the 53 men on Detroit’s roster Sunday against Green Bay.

Incentives, in some deals, are used to push a player or reward him for reaching goals. Some incentives are realistic at the point of signing. Others are not. But toward the end of this season, especially one where Detroit’s year will end win or lose on Sunday against Green Bay, it’s worth noting some players who might have a little bit extra to play for.

Theo Riddick: His 2019 base pay will increase by $250,000 to $3.45 million because he has already caught more than 50 passes this year (he has 61). He could – but won’t – earn an extra $150,000 for 700 or more receiving yards this year. He currently has 384.

LeGarrette Blount: Blount already made an extra $350,000 for five rushing touchdowns this season – he currently has five. If he has two rushing touchdowns against Green Bay, he’ll make another $350,000. He has an outside shot of hitting his $250,000 bonus for playing time. He’s currently at 26.5 percent (251 of 947) and essentially would need to play every snap of an offense-dominated game to come close.

Devon Kennard: The linebacker, who has been one of Detroit’s best defensive players this year, has played 771 of 886 defensive snaps so far this season (while notching 44 tackles and seven sacks). Even if he were to sit out the season finale, he still would make an extra $125,000 for playing more than 55 percent of the defensive plays. As long as he plays his usual complement of snaps or close to it, he’ll likely hit another $125,000 bonus marker for playing 80 percent of defensive snaps or more. He did miss out on an extra $250,000 by not being a Pro Bowler.

Darius Slay: The Pro Bowler is halfway to a $550,000 escalator in his 2019 base salary by earning his second straight Pro Bowl invitation earlier this month. To reach the mark, he either needs to intercept two or more passes against Green Bay (he needs five for the escalator to kick in) or play 80 percent or more of Detroit’s defensive snaps this year. He’s in good shape for that, having been on the field for 778 of 886 plays so far (87.8 percent). As long as he plays close to his usual snap count Sunday, he should be a little over a half-million dollars richer next season.

Nevin Lawson: The cornerback who re-signed with the Lions last year had playing time incentives worked into his deal and he’s going to hit them. Lawson has played 837 of a possible 886 snaps (94.4 percent), meaning he’ll lock in the extra $250,000 bonus for playing 60 percent of plays and should also hit an additional $300,000 for playing at least 80 percent of plays. He’s played the third-most snaps of any Lions defensive player behind linebacker Jarrad Davis (874) and safety Quandre Diggs (847).

Tavon Wilson: Wilson had money tied into his playing time as well – but unlike Lawson he won’t hit any of them after playing 261 of 886 snaps through the first 15 games (29.45 percent). To hit any incentives, he had to play at least 60 percent of snaps (for an extra $125,000) and would have gotten an extra $125,000 for playing 70 percent, 80 percent or 90 percent of snaps.

Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this post. Follow ESPN Stats & Info on Twitter @ESPNStatsinfo.