Wide receiver Mike Evans for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned more money on one sing than the majority of NFL players do annually. Evans ran for nine yards on the final play of the Bucs ‘ Week 18 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, earning him a$ 3 million bonus. His season-high total of over 1, 000 yards was accumulated.
Evans ‘$ 3 million cash wasn’t even the biggest of the day, yet. Geno Smith, the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, had the opportunity to earn$ 2 million on Sunday when he faced the Los Angeles Rams, who had to run for at least 185 yards and keep his season-high completion rate above 69.7 %, which helped Seattle to a victory. He did all three, throwing for 223 yards and completing 74.1 % of his passes in the 30-25 victory to trigger$ 6 million total in contract incentives.

Evans has a clause in his commitment that adds$ 3 million to his 2025 money if he crossed the following statistical levels in 2024: 70 strikes, 10 touchdowns and 1, 000 receiving feet. With only 36 hours left in the regular season, he was still five miles short of 1,000. After he hit the step, the whole group surrounded him in party on the corner.
The escalator represents a nearly 20 % raise for Evans, who is set to earn$ 18 million in base salary next season. The success also put him in wealthy organization with Jerry Rice, tying the hero’s NFL history with his 11th-straight 1, 000-yard time.
Von Miller, one of the Super Bowl 50 MVP, was one of the dozens of other people who received prizes in Week 18 for exceeding certain analytical levels. Miller’s fifth sack of the year netted him an further$ 1.5 million for a single address.
The irony of Week 18 Sunday being the decide-or-break day for the majority of prizes is that many of the games are usually meaningless, with teams now guaranteed to either create or skip the playoffs.
The Falcons, however, took a genuine threat to their time by force-feeding Evans on the show’s final play. They may have ended the game and clinched a playoff place by kneeling, away by eight points. The Saints may have possibly won if they had turned the game over, which would have eliminated the Bucs from the postseason with a win over the Atlanta Falcons. The Saints security, yet, didn’t seem particularly interested in carefully guarding Evans or trying to force a struggle.
Not all businesses are thus generous. The Dallas Cowboys, for example, have taken condemnation for lifting player Cooper Rush for their pointless Week 18 match against the Washington Commanders. By starting Trey Lance instead, the Cowboys avoided paying Rush an extra$ 250, 000 for hitting the 55 % snap count incentive in his contract.