Jalen Mills went from being a seventh-round pick two years ago to playing 90 percent of defensive snaps for the Super Bowl champion Eagles.
Now he’s getting some extra dough because of it.
Mills is collecting $457,440.17 in total performance-based pay from the 2017 season. That’s the third-highest total in the NFL behind Tennessee OG Quinton Spain ($489K) and Atlanta OG Wes Schweitzer ($466K).
That extra paycheck is extremely significant for Mills, who had a base salary of just $540,000 in his second NFL season.
Performance-based pay is money (doesn’t apply to the salary cap) that is divvied up on a formula that accounts for playing time and salary. Basically, the more a guy plays on a cheap deal, the more performance-based pay he receives. The money isn’t actually a reward for performance, rather playing time.
In total, over $169 million will be distributed to NFL players from 2017 through the program.
This is the second-straight year Mills has led the Eagles in performance-based pay. Last year, as a rookie, he pulled in an extra $324K.
NFL
The only other Eagles player in the top-25 in 2017 was offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who pulled in a total of $369,738.85.
Vaitai played 829 offensive snaps (73 percent) for the Eagles this season, taking over at left tackle after Jason Peters went down for the season in Week 7. Like Mills, Vaitai’s base salary in 2017 was just $540,000.
Cornerback Patrick Robinson also walked away with an extra $82,299.68 thanks to the performance-based veteran pool. Robinson played 69 percent of defensive snaps on a one-year prove-it deal.