It’s that time of the year, late in the NFL season, when everything is on the line — well, at least for some people.
While nearly half the league has already been eliminated from the playoffs, there are still playoff seeds and home-field advantage to decide and, perhaps most importantly to some, contract performance bonuses to meet.
Many players have certain elevators for cumulative season stats — some close to million-dollar bonuses — headed into the second-to-last weekend of the regular season.
If there’s one player who has extra incentive to see his team’s playoff seeding set by the end of Monday night, it’s Mac Jones. According to Spotrac, the San Francisco 49ers’ backup quarterback is eligible for a $550,000 bonus if he finishes the season with 50 percent of the offensive snaps for a 49ers team that qualifies for the playoffs.
After filling in for 49ers starter Brock Purdy (turf toe) for eight starts earlier this season, Jones enters Week 17 with a 54 percent snap share. Jones led the team to a 5-3 record during that span, making him a big part of the team clinching a playoff berth before Christmas. All he needs is to reach that 50 percent mark to trigger his $550K bonus.
With two games to play and Purdy back leading the charge, Jones’ snap percentage could fall under that threshold. But if the 49ers lose at home to the Chicago Bears on “Sunday Night Football,” they could be out of the running for the NFC West title and the NFC’s top seed with one game left. In that instance, the team could sit Purdy in Week 18 and give Jones the necessary snaps. But with a win over Chicago, Purdy will almost assuredly start a potential winner-take-all Week 18 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks — and Jones’ hopes to reach his contract escalator likely disappear.
Talk about a conflict of interest.
Here are some other notable players close to sizable bonuses heading into the penultimate weekend of the NFL regular season.
• Carolina Panthers RB Rico Dowdle: Needed 70 scrimmage yards to reach $1M bonus for 1,350 total yards entering Week 17. Had 63 scrimmage yards on Sunday, putting him 7 yards away. (One game remaining.)
• Kansas City Chiefs WR Hollywood Brown: Needs one touchdown to receive $750K bonus for six TDs, and three touchdowns for $1M for eight TDs. (One game remaining.)
• New England Patriots WR Stefon Diggs: Needed 131 yards to get $500K bonus for 1,000 yards, and four catches for another $500K bonus for 80 catches entering Week 17. He had six receptions for 101 yards on Sunday, putting him just 30 yards shy of hitting both incentives. (One game remaining.)
• Washington Commanders WR Deebo Samuel: Needs 93 receiving yards for $450k bonus for 800 yards, and two touchdowns for $250k bonus for eight TDs. (One game remaining.)
• Arizona Cardinals DL Calais Campbell: Needed two sacks to receive $500K bonus for 7.5 sacks. He’s now one sack away after registering one sack on Sunday. (One game remaining.)
• Jacksonville Jaguars DL Arik Armstead: Needs 1 1/2 sacks to earn $1M bonus for seven. (One game remaining.)
• Patriots edge K’Lavon Chaisson: Needs half-sack to earn $500K bonus for seven with already 35 percent of snaps played. (One game remaining.)
• Commanders OLB Von Miller: Needs one sack for $1M bonus for nine. (One game remaining.)
Incentives that were hit in Week 17:
• Carolina Panthers CB Mike Jackson: Earned himself $500k in incentives for his fourth interception of the season on Sunday.
• New Orleans Saints TE Juwan Johnson: Maxed out all $750k of his incentive package this season by catching 70 passes and accumulating 700 yards receiving, while holding a fully guaranteed $9M salary in 2026.
• New England Patriots TE Hunter Henry: He caught his 55th ball of the year to receive a $250k incentive.
