Joe Flacco among NFL players with millions of bonus dollars at stake

A little over a month ago, quarterback Joe Flacco was sitting at home — not on a NFL team for the first time since his last year of college at Delaware in 2007. The Cleveland Browns called and wanted to fly him in for a workout. They signed him to the practice squad on Nov. 20.

He was signed to the 53-man roster on Dec. 14. With it came a contract that included incentives that seemed unreachable, but Flacco’s improbable journey has been one of the more compelling storylines of this season.

The 38-year-old has won four straight, including Thursday’s victory over the New York Jets that clinched the Browns’ first playoff bid since 2020.

It also secured an incentive. For every win, Flacco makes $75,000. The total is $225,000 for three wins, because his first win on Dec. 10 was before he signed the new deal.

“This is obviously a very unique situation for me,” Flacco said about his journey this season after the game, “so a lot of different emotions are going through my head.”

The bonuses escalate dramatically the deeper the Browns advance in the playoffs.

He is one of a handful of quarterbacks with contract incentives within reach as the regular season winds down.

Here’s a look at some of the incentives, according to Roster Management System, that will be in play over the final two weeks and all the way up to Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11.

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