Back in 2002, during the NFLPA negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, there was a quiet but meaningful push: To take care of the players who gave everything on Sundays despite big contracts to show for it. The union urged the league to create a fund that would reward those on smaller deals but major roles on the field. Ensuring their contributions didn’t go unnoticed, the money was spread evenly across all 32 teams and classified as a benefit rather than salary cap spending. Thankfully, over a decade later, that effort still echoes through locker rooms, with the 2026 rewards setting up a new precedent.

On Monday, the NFL announced that it had distributed a staggering $542 million in performance-based pay for the 2025 season. Mind you, that’s over $90 million more than the last offseason distribution. What’s more, this is the first time since the system’s inception that the Top 25 players earned more than $1 million each. So, this naturally leads to the next question: Who was the luckiest of ’em all?

Well, former Chicago Bears star Nahshon Wright will probably have a good night’s sleep knowing he’s $1.4 million richer and earned double of his original $1.1 million contract with the Bears. But before we get to the other players who earned massive paydays, let’s look at what made Wright stand out. While the player struggled to turn heads in his first four seasons, his lone season with the Bears was anything but boring. 

As a third-round pick with the Dallas Cowboys in 2021, the young playmaking cornerback was on the field for just 10 percent of the defensive snaps, which rose to 27 percent in 2022, but dropped to 7 percent in 2023. Dallas eventually traded him to the Minnesota Vikings, where he didn’t log a single defensive snap in 2024 leading the Bears to sign him to a low-cost deal in 2025. That move paid off when Wright broke out of his shell playing 97 percent of the defensive snaps along with 4 percent on special teams.

Not only did Wright record five interceptions, he also had 118 interception yards, one pick-six, 80 total tackles (54 solo), three tackles for loss, one QB hit, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and 11 passes defensed in 17 regular-season games (16 starts). Additionally, his 1,040 snaps were the eighth-most among 217 eligible cornerbacks, along with a 72.9 run-defense PFF grade (23rd) and 24 run stops on 422 run-defense snaps.

The player also starred in two playoff games at cornerback for Chicago after the secondary was banged up. That included Pro Bowler Jaylon Johnson. With Wright’s help, the Bears featured in the WildCard and Division rounds in the 2025 season. That was big, considering the franchise last made it to the playoffs in 2020.

That said, any player who appears in even a single official snap during the season qualifies for a payout through the program. However, the biggest gains typically go to those who log heavier playing time while still being on relatively modest contracts. Where does this money come from, though?

Here’s the thing: The money for the performance-based pay pool is generated from savings created by slower growth in both the rookie salary pool and minimum veteran contracts. From there, payouts are determined using a player index, a formula that compares a player’s “PBP Playtime” (their total regular-season snaps across offense, defense, and special teams, measured against the highest snap count on their team) with their “PBP Compensation” (which includes base salary, prorated signing bonus, and any earned incentives).

Once calculated, a player’s index is measured against those of his teammates to decide how much he receives from the performance-based pool. That turns it into an internal competition within the roster for a share of the funds. All that said, the program operates completely outside the league’s financial restrictions, meaning these payouts have no impact on the salary cap and don’t create any additional cap pressure or relief for teams.

It goes without saying that the pool money keeps increasing. For example, $452 million in performance-based pay was distributed after the 2024 season. In 2023, that amount was $393.8 million and $336 million after the 2022 season.

Interesting Fact: Since the program was introduced, the NFL collectively distributed close to $3.3 billion in total payouts.

List of top 25 earners from the PBP program after the 2025 season

1. Nahshon Wright (Chicago Bears): $1,441,397

2. Ronnie Hickman  (Cleveland Browns): $1,293,843

3. Elijah Wilkinson  (Atlanta Falcons): $1,272,054

4. Nick Scott  (Carolina Panthers): $1,262,216

5. Chris Paul (Washington Commanders): $1,202,142

6. Andrew Vorhees (Baltimore Ravens): $1,199,318

7. Jalen Redmond (Minnesota Vikings): $1,184,087

8. Mason McCormick (Pittsburgh Steelers) $1,173,614

9. Chamarri Conner (Kansas City Chiefs): $1,150,312

10. Craig Woodson (New England Patriots): $1,149,910

11. Xavier Watts (Atlanta Falcons): $1,144,510

12. Riley Moss (Denver Broncos): $1,136,103

13. Devin White (Las Vegas Raiders): $1,133,486

14. Payton Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers): $1,102,206

15. Jack Jones (Miami Dolphins): $1,101,585

16. Anthony Bradford (Seattle Seahawks): $1,098,394

17. O’Cyrus Torrence (Buffalo Bills): $1,091,163

18. Matt Goncalves (Indianapolis Colts): $1,083,538

19. Kingsley Suamataia (Kansas City Chiefs): $1,067,367

20. Antonio Johnson (Jacksonville Jaguars): $1,065,214

21. Malachi Moore (New York Jets): $1,042,230

22. Dane Belton (New York Giants): $1,023,291

23. Drake Thomas (Seattle Seahawks): $1,022,512

24. Jordan Battle (Cincinnati Bengals): $1,021,703

25. Evan Williams (Green Bay Packers): $1,003,098