Buffalo Bills Trio Earns Hefty Performance-Based Pay Bonus

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown, guard O'Cyrus Torrence and linebacker Terrel Bernard are among the NFL's top performance-based pay recipients.

Nov 26, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown (79) / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

A trio of Buffalo Bills youngsters are smiling looking at their bank accounts right now.

Offensive tackle Spencer Brown, guard O'Cyrus Torrence and linebacker Terrel Bernard were all among the list of the top 25 performance-based pay recipients league-wide. Brown earned $912,723 (ranking third in the league), Torrence earned $847,180 (eighth) and Bernard earned $777,092 (17th)

Nov 26, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown (79) / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

In a basic sense, the performance-based pay program allows players receiving a lower salary, usually those on rookie contracts, to earn additional income based on their playing time. To raise the money necessary to award players these bonuses, "a fund is created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation basedupon a comparison of playing time to salary," according to the NFL's press release.

All three of the aforementioned players are still on their rookie deals, so this additional income is quite significant for them.

Former Ravens and current Jets guard John Simpson led all NFL players last season by receiving an extra $974,613 in performance-based pay. The top earners that were announced today: pic.twitter.com/5AIyTKqR9R

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 1, 2024

Brown, Torrence and Bernard were some of the Bills' biggest breakout players last season. The former two started all 17 games along the offensive line, while Bernard stepped up as a leader on defense, especially after so many players went down with injuries.

With the Bills losing several key contributors this offseason, they'll be counting on this trio and other emerging players to step up again this fall.