Darnold Has incentive to Win

[kidhawk]

Sure he wants to win for the team but he also has nice reasons to win for greedy reasons (and those are the best incentives?

Individual Performance Bonuses (Up to $2M)

$500k for 100.0+ Passer Rating (currently 99.2)
$500k for 28+ Passing Touchdowns (currently 25)
$500k for 4,000+ Passing Yards (currently 3,850)
$500k for 67.5%+ Completion Percentage (currently 67.2%)

He can beat the Niners and achieve these for $2 million.


Now he also has already gotten a bonus for getting to the playoffs that was $500k. Here are the rest possible
In the playoffs.

Team Performance Bonuses (Up to $3M)

$500k for Top 10 NFL Total Offense ( I don’t know if this is scoring or yards or what but this seems very doable)
$1M for Winning Divisional Round
$1.5M for Winning NFC Championship
$2.5M for Winning Super Bowl

I assume that the final 3 only pays out the furthest he gets.

With all these incentives he has more than enough financial reason to be lights out for the playoffs.

 

[Optimus25]

I’ve never got in the weeds on this stuff but is anything specifically prohibiting a team from offering very high bonuses and saving on the cap in salary? Or is it that great players just demand the guaranteed cash anyway?

Great post though

 

[kidhawk]

I’ve never got in the weeds on this stuff but is anything specifically prohibiting a team from offering very high bonuses and saving on the cap in salary? Or is it that great players just demand the guaranteed cash anyway?

Great post though

The league decides if an incentive is likely to be made, if they say it is then it counts towards the current years cap. If they do that and it’s not made we would get cap credit the next year. If they decide it’s not likely to be made then they don’t count it this year but if it is made they count it against the following year.

 

[Optimus25]

The league decides if an incentive is likely to be made, if they say it is then it counts towards the current years cap. If they do that and it’s not made we would get cap credit the next year. If they decide it’s not likely to be made then they don’t count it this year but if it is made they count it against the following year.

Ahhhh makes sense. Huge way to sidestep the cap some if the player will agree to a non traditional deal with massive incentives on the back end.

 

[Jegpeg]

The only issue with incentives is sometimes they are perverse.

For example say in the dying seconds of the SB a team need a TD to win and have the ball on the 1 yard line. They have a stud RB almost guaranteed to make it accross the line of scrimmage but the QB is on a bonus for passing TDs so he goes against the play called by the HC / OC and throws the ball instead only to have it picked.

But surely something like that could never happen!

 

[James in PA]

Forget the $. Silencing all these tools in the media who keep repeating the same crap over & over should be motivation enough.

 

[kidhawk]

The only issue with incentives is sometimes they are perverse.

For example say in the dying seconds of the SB a team need a TD to win and have the ball on the 1 yard line. They have a stud RB almost guaranteed to make it accross the line of scrimmage but the QB is on a bonus for passing TDs so he goes against the play called by the HC / OC and throws the ball instead only to have it picked.

But surely something like that could never happen!

I’ve never seen total touchdowns as a post season incentive. Winning games is the incentives you see in playoff games.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Put pressure on lame dance Purdy and they win on Saturday.

 

[kidhawk]

Forget the $. Silencing all these tools in the media who keep repeating the same crap over & over should be motivation enough.

Agreed that is a great motivator but a few $500k bonuses can’t hurt.

 

[Rat]

Teams often give the bonuses anyway if the player is close. This stuff is less intense at the end of the season than many fans think.

 

[kidhawk]

Teams often give the bonuses anyway if the player is close. This stuff is less intense at the end of the season than many fans think.

Yes they go and they should in many situations. Could you imagine being inside the 5 with under a minute to go and the qb needs a TD pass for 500k and the coordinator wants to run down by 4?

I will say though that if he doesn’t outright earn his 4000 yard bonus Saturday they should keep it. 150 yards in the biggest game of the year so far should be a gimme

 

[glenwo2]

Just win the damn game.

That's all that matters.

The money will come later.

 

[sutz]

Just win the damn game.

That's all that matters.

The money will take care of itself.

FIFY

 

[Azvacar]

Teams often give the bonuses anyway if the player is close. This stuff is less intense at the end of the season than many fans think.

Literally the silliest thing I've ever heard.... not how a business or contract works..

Can you cite ANY sources showing a even 30 percent of the league doing such a thing?

Yeah they totally love giving away money when criteria aren't met

 

[Followthelegion]

Darnold has so much more on the line than the incentives this week. This is his chance to flip the narrative; if he doesn’t I fear the record will be very much set in stone for him

 

[glenwo2]

Darnold has so much more on the line than the incentives this week. This is his chance to flip the narrative; if he doesn’t I fear the record will be very much set in stone for him

Yeah. He's been accused of being a Regular Season QB and if he can't get it done against a Niners team with a sh*tty Defense, he'll prove them right.

Not to say that the Lions last year were much better but they had some dawgs there to get after him.

Niners....only had Bosa and that's it (and he's out of the year).

 

[Torc]

Darnold has so much more on the line than the incentives this week. This is his chance to flip the narrative; if he doesn’t I fear the record will be very much set in stone for him

As important as this game is, it is less important than any game in the playoffs. "The record" can be rewritten even if he flames out tomorrow but plays well in the wild card round. Yes, this game is important. The bye is important to get players back and not have to listen to "the whiners don't have to pack their under-roos this offseason" incessantly for the entirety of the playoffs. But this is NOT the most important game of the season.

 

[Followthelegion]

Hmmm not sure I agree. That scenario only plays out if he wins the conference and then arguably at least is effective and competent in the Super Bowl. Giving up the 1 seed will be seen as another choke job. Even if we win the wildcard (which against an awful NFc South winner will mean he gets no credit); the media will be waiting for us to lose before the venom against Sam will come out with the choker narrative reignited

 

[MontanaHawk05]

He needed all his previous wins to even be in position for those bonuses and it didn't stop him from beating out Mr. Don't Write Back himself for most turnovers in the league.

Of course, he can throw TDs at a better rate, but regardless he's not even in the hunt anymore without his defense. Fortunately they're coming along for the playoffs too.

 

[DesertDawg526]