Eagles' Reed Blankenship earns second highest perfomance-based bonus

Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship just earned a bonus from the NFL.  According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Blankenship is getting an extra $923,059 in performance-based pay.  That money has nothing to do with his stats from last season but rather the amount of playing time he saw on a low-salary contract.  Per the NFL's official press release, […]

Kelsey Kramer College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship (32) reacts after a stop on third down against the Buffalo Bills during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field.
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship just earned a bonus from the NFL. 

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Blankenship is getting an extra $923,059 in performance-based pay. 

That money has nothing to do with his stats from last season but rather the amount of playing time he saw on a low-salary contract. 

Per the NFL's official press release, the Performance-Based Pay program was a fund created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation based upon a comparison of playing time to salary. Players become eligible to receive a bonus from the fund if they play at least one official down during the regular season.  

So, because Blankenship played 81% of snaps on defense last fall on an undrafted free agent deal, he more than doubled his $870,000 base salary with the performance-based bonus. 

Blankenship, a former UDFA out of Middle Tennessee State in 2022, started 15 of 17 games for the Eagles in 2023. He led the defense with 113 total tackles, 11 passes defended, three interceptions, and a fumble recovery. 

Former Baltimore Ravens and current New York Jets guard John Simpson was the only player who received a higher bonus than Blankenship this year with the league paying him an additional $974,613. 

Players have been paid nearly $2.4 billion since the Performance-Based Pay program debuted in 2002 as part of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.