BroBible
Most NFL players are able to take advantage of various incentives that allow them to earn extra cash on top of their base salary. Packers guard Sean Rhyan was almost able to take home a massive payday courtesy of the league’s Proven Performance Escalator, but he ended up painfully short of the required threshold.
The bulk of the players who are selected in the first round of the NFL Draft receive contracts that allow them to live very comfortably, and while plenty of guys who end up going later on land a deal that the average person would be fairly envious of, it can still leave a bit to be desired if they end up exceeding expectation.
In 2011, the NFL attempted to address that problem with the introduction of the Proven Performance Escalator, which was designed to benefit younger players on a rookie deal who managed to outperform after making their debut.
Those bonuses are based on codified incentives linked to statistical achievements and accolades; the most notable example in recent memory is Brock Purdy, the “Mr. Irrelevant” who the 49ers have paid less than $1 million a year since he entered the league but who will earn over $5 million in 2025 thanks to the outstanding play that helped him make the Pro Bowl.
That brings us to Sean Rhyan, the guard the Packers selected out of UCLA in the third round in 2022 before he signed a four-year, $5.1 million contract with the team.
Rhyan, who started all 17 games for Green Bay last year, is currently gearing up for his fourth season with the franchise, and per the terms of the PPE, he would have been eligible for a $2,042,42 pay bump after earning around $1.6 million in 2024 if he’d taken 35% of the offensive snaps he was eligible for during his first three NFL campaigns.
According to ESPN, he needed 1,146 snaps to reach that threshold but ultimately came in at 1,144—good for 34.983%—which means he won’t be able to cash in; the only way the Packers would be permitted to make up the difference would be to restructure his contract.
It’s especially painful when you consider Rhyan’s agent told the outlet the stats compiled by Pro Football Reference say he’s taken 35.003% of the snaps he’s been eligible for, but there’s apparently a discrepancy between those numbers and the internal one compiled by the NFL and NFLPA.
Brutal.
The post Green Bay Packers Guard Came Two Snaps Short Of A Bonus That Would Have More Than Doubled His Salary Last Season appeared first on BroBible.
