Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers already cashed in on one of his big contract bonuses last week, and he has another on the line this Monday night when the Steelers host the Houston Texans.
Rodgers reached the first bonus clause of his contract last week, earning $500,000 when the Steelers earned a playoff berth in Sunday night’s 26-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
This week, he has even more riding on his team’s game, as a win over the Houston Texans would net him a $600,000 bonus.
On the season, Rodgers earned $3.65 million in base salary, to go along with a $10 million signing bonus.
Rodgers has further incentives, most of them tied to the team’s success in the postseason. He’ll earn another 750,000 if the Steelers win n the Divisional Playoff, $1 million in the AFC Championship Game, and $1.5 million if they somehow were to win Super Bowl LX. He has another $1.5 million on the line if he wins the NFL MVP Award, but that seems very unlikely.
Rodgers is one of the few Steelers players to have contract incentives, and he seems to be the only one likely to reach it. Defensive tackle Cam Heyward could have earned $1.6 million if he got to eight sacks and the Steelers made the playoffs, but he finished with just 3.5 sacks on the season.
Outside of Rodgers’ bonus, players in the postseason all earn the same amount of money. Every team playing a home game for winning their division this week will earn $58,500, while those playing as Wild Card teams or those on a bye will earn $53,500. Next round, every player will make $58,500, with the conference championship game participants getting $81,000, the Super Bowl losers getting $103,000 and the Super Bowl winners getting $178,000. Playoff salaries are paid directly by the league and do not impact the team’s salary cap situation.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Aaron Rodgers Cashed In with Huge Bonus, Even More on Line This Week
