GREEN BAY, Wis. -- No one had a tougher job for the Green Bay Packers down the stretch than LaDarius Gunter. In consecutive weeks, the second-year cornerback was charged with covering Odell Beckham Jr., Dez Bryant and Julio Jones.

Regardless of what you think of his performance -- and by most accounts, it was up and down -- Gunter took on a much larger role than perhaps anyone expected.

For his efforts, he was rewarded as the top earner among Packers players in the annual performance-based pay distributions. Gunter collected a total of $383,461.76, according to NFL Management Council data distributed to teams. Each team paid out $3.995 million plus an additional $1 million to non-rookies. Gunter received $306,388.79 from the main pool and another $77,072.97 from the smaller pool.

On the other end of the spectrum was Sam Shields, who never played after he sustained a concussion in the regular-season opener. His $1,460.54 will be his last paycheck from the Packers, who released him last month.

The system typically benefits players in their first NFL contracts, or minimum-salaried free-agent signings who become significant contributors.

Among the Packers’ rookies, undrafted safety Kentrell Brice received the biggest payout -- $205,499.46.

It’s rare for a veteran player to be high on the list, but in 2015 receiver James Jones led the Packers at more than $250,000 because he was playing on a minimum-salary contract and ended up leading the team in receiving yards.

Below is the full list of payouts that Packers players received in this year’s performance-based pay. The total pay is the combination of the two pools, where applicable. For comparison, last year’s payouts can be found here.

• LaDarius Gunter: $383,461.76

• Joe Thomas: $323,480.07

• Jake Ryan: $220,516.46

• Kentrell Brice: $205,499.46

• Richard Rodgers: $201,049.55

• Quinten Rollins: $196,368.67

• Davante Adams: $191,497.98

• Corey Linsley: $190,796.86

• Aaron Ripkowski: $187,550.52

• Lane Taylor: $187,400.43

• Blake Martinez: $174,871.93

• Jeff Janis: $169,041.54

• Ty Montgomery: $159,983.07

• Micah Hyde: $149,926.68

• JC Tretter: $133,745.93

• Ha Ha Clinton-Dix: $124,361.29

• Kyler Fackrell: $118,772.15

• Jayrone Elliott: $111,939.47

• Marwin Evans: $86,927.87

• Demetri Goodson: $83,760

• Datone Jones: $71,252.90

• Damarious Randall: $70,897.47

• Don Barclay: $66,409.32

• Geronimo Allison: $65,434.29

• David Bakhtiari: $64,641.66

• Jason Spriggs: $55,715.34

• Justin Perillo: $54,668.77

• Trevor Davis: $53,666.13

• Jacob Schum: $51,339.80

• Dean Lowry: $50,838.42

• Mike Pennel: $48,966.67

• Bryan Bulaga: $47,835.02

• Brett Goode: $46,205.27

• Morgan Burnett: $42,258.71

• Kenny Clark: $40,659.93

• Josh Hawkins: $36,682.13

• Eddie Lacy: $35,082.52

• Letroy Guion: $34,314.91

• James Starks: $33,183.68

• Carl Bradford: $31,531.06

• T.J. Lang: $31,431.83

• Jared Cook: $31,061.19

• Nick Perry: $29,655.83

• Christian Ringo: $28,237.39

• Jordy Nelson: $27,369.56

• Joe Kerridge: $26,822.16

• Mike Daniels: $24,232.29

• Jared Abbrederis: $23,509.36

• Christine Michael: $21,420.89

• Makinton Dorleant: $18,505.82

• Randall Cobb: $18,175.96

• Julius Peppers: $17,036.17

• Mason Crosby: $16,314.72

• Aaron Rodgers: $13,128.75

• Jordan Tripp: $11,819.83

• Don Jackson: $10,257.27

• Clay Matthews: $9,126.77

• Chris Banjo: $8,120

• Brett Hundley: $7,618.80

• Knile Davis: $5,040.21

• Jermaine Whitehead: $4,802.27

• Brian Price: $3,694.34

• Kyle Murphy: $3,676.29

• Sam Shields: $1,460.54