The NFL adding a 17th game in 2021 means another cash infusion for some highly paid players.
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, new Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff will get an extra game check worth nearly $1.509 million at the end of the 2021 regular season thanks to the added 17th game, per sources informed of the situation.
Goff's payday is the largest "bonus" among dozens of players who will get paid out due to the CBA provision for contracts signed before Feb. 26, 2020. The collective bargaining agreement was ratified last offseason.
Goff, who was traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Lions, signed a four-year extension in 2019 in L.A. worth $134 million.
Per Pelissero, other players set to earn at least an extra $1 million in 2021 due to their large base salaries: Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Ryan, Aaron Donald, Derek Carr, Russell Wilson, Frank Clark, Von Miller, Khalil Mack and Demarcus Lawrence.
In order to qualify for the added salary for a 17th game, players must make more than the minimum salary on contracts signed before Feb. 26, 2020 -- the day the CBA was essentially finalized -- and not substantially renegotiated since (i.e., more significant than a simple restructure).
In 2021, extra game checks funded are from the performance-based pay pool (up to $48 million) and rookie redistribution fund, per Pelissero, therefore are counted as benefits, not salary, and aren't counted against the cap.
