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Much of the 49ers’ success in 2019 was based upon the success of relative unknowns, and late-round draft selections playing far above their pay-grade and theoretical pedigree.
Dre Greenlaw (5th round, 2019), Justin Skule (6th round, 2019), Emmanuel Moseley (UDFA, 2018), Daniel Brunskill (UDFA, 2017), Azeez Al-Shaair (UDFA, 2019) and even Marcell Harris (6th round, 2018) all played immense roles for the team at various points throughout the year.
For Greenlaw and Moseley, it resulted in a substantial increase in pay. On Thursday, the NFL released numbers for performance-based bay, where both Greenlaw and Moseley ranked in the NFL’s top 25.
Here’s where that performance pay and veteran pool money comes from, per the NFL:
The Performance-Based Pay program is a collectively bargained benefit that compensates all players, including rookies, based upon their playing time and salary levels
In addition to the Performance-Based Pay pool, the NFL Players Association has elected to dedicate $83.2 million in benefits (i.e., $2.6 million per club) to fund a Veteran Performance-Based Compensation Pool (the “Veteran Pool”) for players with one or more accrued seasons. In total, $231.152 million will be disbursed to players under the combined pools…
Under the Performance-Based Pay program, a fund is created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation based on a comparison of playing time to salary. Players become eligible to receive a bonus distribution in any regular season in which they play at least one official down. In general, players with higher playtime percentages and lower salaries benefit most from the pools.
Performance-Based Pay is computed by using a player index (“Index”). To produce the Index, a player’s regular-season playtime (total plays on offense, defense and special teams) is divided by his adjusted regular-season compensation (full season salary, prorated portion of signing bonus, earned incentives). Each player’s Index is then compared to those of the other players on his team to determine the amount of his Performance-Based Pay.
Greenlaw brought home $339,981 in performance-based pay as a rookie, which ranked 14th in the NFL. Moseley earned $326,516 in performance-based pay, which ranked 17th, but he also earned an additional $174,003 from the veteran pool, for a total of $500,519, which was the 17th-most in combined performance money.
Moseley was given an early restricted free agent tender by the 49ers this offseason along with Brunskill, Ross Dwelley, Jeff Wilson Jr. and Nick Mullens. That group will become restricted free agents next summer if not extended this season.