Jaguars' Tre Herndon Leads Team In Performance-Based Pay For Second Season In A Row

Jacksonville Jaguars corner Tre Herndon leads the club in compensation earned through the league's performance based pay system. It's the second year in a row he topped the team's list. We break down his additional pay as well as the Jaguars' top five earners.

For the second year in a row, Jacksonville Jaguars corner Tre Herndon leads the club in extra compensation for performance-based play.

The program, outlined by the NFL Players Association, monetarily rewards players for play relatively greater than their original contracts. In other words, for those players who signed smaller contracts upon joining the club, it’s a chance to earn more based on play and performance that exceeded the parameters of their initial deal.

For the 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic effecting revenue streams, teams have until 2024 to pay players their additional compensation, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Alex Cappa earned a league-high $622,056 after starting 16 games. And as mentioned, this is the second season in a row that Herndon has led the Jaguars roster in the PBP system. 

This season, Herndon earned more but fell down the list of top earners. He’ll received an extra check for $486,671, which is the 29th most in the NFL. This bonus brings his 2020 compensation to $1,058,248 total, after earning 95.5% of playing time (according to the NFLPA calculations). 

Following the 2019 season, he and then rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew were the top two earners—Herndon with $327,050 and Minshew with $319,098—both landing in top 25 league-wide in relation to compensation earned.

Herndon became an outside starting corner for the Jaguars in October 2019, after the club traded Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams. Herndon stepped in as a starter for a few weeks before that, making his first-career starts since signing with the Jaguars out of Vanderbilt as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

Ahead of the 2020 season, Herndon was expected to start outside yet again, this time as the more experienced presence opposite rookie CJ Henderson. That is how the season began, but after starting nickel DJ Hayden was injured, Herndon moved inside for the middle portion of the schedule. In total he started 12 games, playing in all 16, and finished with 71 tackles, one sack and 18 passes defended.

The 25-year-old became a chess piece for the defense, with the ability to move around wherever a hole appeared and play without any drop-off.

The only Jaguars player to log 100% of playing time was middle linebacker Joe Schobert. Since his contract is already adjusted to accommodate a starter, he earned an additional $99,877.

Second on the Jaguars list of highest rated PBP earners was strong safety Josh Jones, earning an additional $332,324 to bring his 2020 total to $1,056,580. Free safety Andrew Wingard was third, with $319,853, bumping his 2020 season up to $1,058,246 total. Defensive end Adam Gotsis was next, bringing in $305,515 for a $1,187,500 season total.

Fifth on the list was rookie running back sensation, James Robinson. The former undrafted free agent took the league by storm, in route to 1,414 total yards (1,070 rushing, 344 receiving), 289 total touches (240 rushing) and 10 total touchdowns. He became the fastest undrafted rookie in NFL history to reach the century mark.

Robinson's 1,414 scrimmage yards are the most scrimmage yards by an undrafted rookie in NFL history while his 1,070 rushing yards brought him to second on the list. The latter number was one he came dangerously close to passing before an ankle injury held him out of the last two games. 

You can peruse the entire NFL performance based pay breakdown for the 2021 season here.