2025 NFL Contract Incentives: Sam Darnold, Stefon Diggs and More Incentives To Track

We’re down to the final three weeks of the season, which means it’s officially time for everyone’s favorite season: 2025 NFL contract incentives SZN. NFL players are just like us. It doesn’t matter how much you’re already making; who doesn’t want to pick up a few extra bucks?

Fortunately, all this information is available to us. Which players have the most to gain over the final weeks of the year? Let’s dive in.

Also, this piece will be updated heading into Week 17 and 18, and as we get more information, we’ll know exactly what each player is chasing over their final games.

Quarterback Contract Incentives To Monitor

We don’t normally think about quarterbacks during #incentiveSZN. After all, they already have the ball in their hands for every play. It’s not like they can throw the ball to themselves, so it really just comes down to how the plays are called.

Still, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for a coordinator or head coach to skew the passing plays a bit heavier down the stretch to get their QB a couple of extra dollars. There are only really a few guys who stand out in this department this season.

Sam Darnold

Darnold is the No. 1 QB to watch from an incentives standpoint. He can earn an extra $500k apiece if he gets to 28 passing touchdowns and 4,000 passing yards. He’s currently sitting at 22 passing touchdowns and 3,433 yards, so he’d need to average two touchdowns and 189 passing yards if he plays in his final three outings. The Seahawks are currently tied atop the NFC West standings with the Rams, and those two squads are battling for the top spot in the conference overall. Those teams will meet in Week 16, and the winner of that contest will be in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed.

He also has two other incentives related to his on-field performance. He gets $500k if he finishes the season with a passer rating of at least 100 and another $500k for a completion percentage of at least 67.5%. Darnold is currently at 102.1 and 67.4, respectively, so Darnold can finish with an extra $2M if he checks all the correct boxes down the stretch.

Baker Mayfield

Mayfield’s contract incentives aren’t quite as cut and dry. He can earn $500k if he finishes in the top five in the NFL in passer rating. He can also earn $500k apiece if he finishes in either the top 10 in the NFL or top five in the NFC in completion percentage or yards per attempt. Here’s how he fares in those departments after Week 15:

Passer Rating: 90.6 (17th in NFL)
Completion Percentage: 61.2% (26th in NFL; 14th in NFC)
Yards per Attempt: 6.6 (25th in NFL; 14th in NFC)

Those all feel like long shots at the moment, but Mayfield has another way to earn some additional dollars. He has two incentives of $500k apiece: he needs to finish in the top 10 in the NFL or top five in the NFC in passing yards or passing touchdowns, while improving in one major statistical category from last year. Those categories include passer rating, completion percentage, interception rate, total yards, yards per attempt or touchdown passes. Mayfield has improved upon his interception rate (1.6% vs. 2.8%), so he just needs to move up the leaderboard slightly in passing yards and touchdowns to earn those bonuses.

Running Back Contract Incentives To Monitor

Rico Dowdle

Dowdle has been a massive success for the Panthers this season, and he’s already cleared a few statistical hurdles to earn himself an extra $1.75M. That said, he still has a few major marks left to clear that could result in an even larger payday.

The biggest bonus is $1M for getting to 1,350 scrimmage yards. That shouldn’t be difficult down the stretch. He’s already at 1,237, so he needs just 113 over his final three games. Dowdle would earn another $250k by getting to eight total TDs, and he’s currently sitting at seven. That also feels very doable.

Those are the last two statistical marks for Dowdle to reach, but he can earn a final $500k bonus by earning a Pro Bowl selection. Dowdle ranks seventh in the fan vote at running back (and third in the NFC), so that feels well within the realm of possibility.

Javonte Williams

Let’s move from the Cowboys’ previous running back to their current one. Like Dowdle, Williams has been a smashing success for his new squad. He’s having the best season of his career by a wide margin, and he’s already earned a bonus for getting to 12 touchdowns. He gets another $250k if he can finish with 1,250 scrimmage yards, and he needs just nine more in his final three games. Barring something tragic, that should get wrapped up early in Week 16.

Nick Chubb

Chubb has fallen behind Woody Marks in the pecking order in the Texans’ backfield, and he sat out the team’s Week 15 win over the Cardinals. The Texans are currently fighting for the top spot in the AFC South, so finding some extra opportunities for their banged-up backup RB might not be super high on their priority list.

Still, Chubb has a few different chances to earn some extra money down the stretch. He’s currently sitting at 472 rushing yards, and he earns his first bonus at 600. He gets another at 800, so it’s something to keep in mind if the Texans look to rest Marks down the stretch. It’s possible that the Texans have nothing to play for in Week 18 vs. the Colts, so that would be Chubb’s best chance to rack up rushing yards.

Kareem Hunt

It is going to be a weird end to the year for the Chiefs. They have officially been eliminated from playoff contention, and Patrick Mahomes suffered a devastating torn ACL at the end of their Week 15 loss vs. the Chargers. Gardner Minshew should finish out the season at quarterback, and the Chiefs will hope this is just a one-year outlier and not the end of an era.

Hunt has surprisingly been the Chiefs’ top running back this season, and he can pick up a few additional dollars if he maintains that role down the stretch. He’s currently at a 48.8% snap share and he gets another $125k if he can get to 50%. He also has bonuses for getting to 750, 905 and 1,000 scrimmage yards. He’s at 679 following Week 15.

With the Chiefs playing for nothing at this point, it’s possible that they could feature Hunt as a thank you for his service in a year where they’ve needed him. It’s also possible they lean more on their younger backfield options (particularly Brashard Smith) to see what they have for the future. We’ll likely know more after their next game.

Saquon Barkley

This has not been the year that Barkley was hoping for. He’s taken a major step back in basically every category across the board, and he’s not going to hit most of his lofty contract incentives.

However, he does pick up an extra $250k if he can get to 1,500 scrimmage yards. He’s up to 1,213 through his first 14 games, so he needs to average 95.7 per game to get to 1,500 if he plays all three down the stretch. That’s doable, but it’s far from a guarantee: he’s averaged just 86.6 scrimmage yards per game so far this season.

Tony Pollard

It has not been a great year for the Titans, but two big games from Pollard in his past two outings have put him in the range of some statistical milestones. He gets $250k for 1,100 rushing yards and another $250k for seven rushing TDs, and he’s currently sitting at 847 and five, respectively. Pollard has split the snaps pretty evenly with Tyjae Spears in recent weeks, but he still continues to handle the majority of the rushing attempts.

Wide Receiver Contract Incentives To Monitor

DeAndre Hopkins

This one feels unlikely, but it’s at least worth mentioning. Hopkins has no real shot at getting to his receptions (57) or receiving yards (611) bonuses, but six receiving touchdowns feels somewhat attainable. He has just two so far this season, but four in his final three games isn’t impossible. Hopkins did post a 56% route participation in Week 15, which was one of his top marks of the season. Rashod Bateman continuing to miss time would only help his prospects.

Khalil Shakir

Shakir hasn’t been quite as good for the Bills this year as he was in 2024-25, but he’s still been the team’s best receiver overall. He has a few different escalators in play down the stretch:

Receiving Yards: 650; Bonuses at 900, 1,000, 1,100 and 1,200
Receptions: 62; Bonuses at 80, 90, 100 and 110
Receiving Touchdowns: Four; Bonuses at five, six, eight and 10

There’s probably not enough time left for him to get to the top end of those escalators, but he can certainly earn a few different pay bumps. The Bills are still fighting for the AFC East crown, and that battle could come all the way down to Week 18.

Nico Collins

Collins is one of the league’s best receivers, and he has the potential to earn bonuses at 95 receptions and 1,460 receiving yards. He still has a way to go to reach those marks, but they’re not impossible. He would need to average 10.4 receptions over his final three games, while he needs 153 receiving yards per game. That’s a lot, but a big game in Week 16 vs. the Raiders would go a long way.

Hollywood Brown

Brown has not been a huge factor in the Chiefs’ passing attack since Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy have gotten healthy, but he did enough early in the year to put himself in position to cash in down the stretch. He’s currently sitting at five receiving touchdowns, and he would get a $250k bonus for numbers six and seven. He would also pick up a $500k bonus for getting to 500 receiving yards (currently 494), with an additional $125k for 625 and 750.

Keenan Allen

Allen was a late signing for the Chargers this offseason, and he has some big incentives baked into his contract. He has a good shot at earning a decent chunk of them.

He’s already earned $750k for getting to 60 receptions, and he’ll earn an additional $250k for his 71st. He’s currently sitting at 68, so he could have that wrapped up as early as next week.

The bigger payday would come if he could get to 80. He gets $750k for his 80th reception, and he needs just four receptions per game over his final three to get there. That’s extremely doable.

Allen also has some yardage and touchdown escalators to play for:

Receiving Yards: 680 currently; $250k for 750, $250k for 875, $750k for 1,000
Receiving Touchdowns: four currently; $250k for six and eight

If he were to clear all of those hurdles, he could pick up nearly $3M extra over the final three weeks. He has even more incentives built in for making the postseason, which seems inevitable after their win over the Chiefs in Week 15. Ultimately, signing back with his old team looks like a great decision.

Stefon Diggs

Like Allen, Diggs is another veteran receiver with an incentive-laden contract. He has some big escalators built in for receptions and receiving yards:

Receptions: 67 currently; $500k bonuses for 70, 80, 90 and 100
Receiving Yards: 731 currently; $500k bonuses for 1,000, 1,100, 1,200 and 1,300

Diggs probably won’t make it past the first rung of the yardage ladder, but he could rack up a few of the different receptions milestones. That said, he’s going to need to be more involved than he’s been in recent weeks: he has just eight catches for 72 yards across his past three games.

The good news is that the Patriots are still fighting for a division title, and they have a slim chance at the No. 1 seed in the AFC. A big game vs. the Ravens in Week 16 would certainly help Diggs’ cause.

Mack Hollins

Diggs isn’t the only Patriots’ receiver with something to play for. Hollins is currently sitting at 39 receptions, and he’ll pick up $300k for No. 40. He gets an additional $400k if he can get to 50 receptions, and unlike Diggs, his role in the Patriots’ offense appears to be growing. He had eight targets vs. the Bills in Week 15, and he needs fewer than four grabs per game over his final three to get to 50.

Sterling Shepard

The Buccaneers might be the team best known for incentives. Rob Gronkowski famously had a few big incentives in his final season with Tom Brady, while Mike Evans hit some big milestones down the stretch last year.

While Evans and Chris Godwin both have plenty of incentives in their current contracts, they’ve missed too many games for those to really be a factor. Shepard is the only member of the team with a realistic bonus up for grabs. He would pick up $125k for his 40th reception (39 currently) and another $125k for 400 yards (371 currently).

Deebo Samuel

It has been a bit of a lost season for the Commanders. They made a surprise run to the NFC Championship game last season, and they made some big additions this offseason to try to make it back. Unfortunately, they’ve been unable to overcome injuries to Jayden Daniels, who has been limited to just seven games. He hasn’t been nearly as effective even when he’s been in the lineup, with the team limping to a 2-5 record in his starts.

Samuel was one of the team’s marquee additions, and he still has a chance to make some incentives down the stretch. He’s currently sitting at 604 receiving yards, and he’ll earn a $250k bonus at 700. That figure jumps to $450k if he reaches 800, and it increases to $650k if he can get to 900.

Samuel has similar escalators for receptions and touchdowns. He gets bonuses for 70 and 80 receptions (65 currently), and those are well within reach. The touchdowns are a bit tougher, with the first milestone coming at No. 8. He’s sitting on six touchdowns for the year, and he gets bonuses from each touchdown from eight through 12.

Tight End Contract Incentives To Monitor

Dawson Knox

Knox is not a huge part of the Bills’ passing attack, but he has very reasonable incentives built into his contract. The biggest one is related to playing time. He earns a $650k bonus if he’s on the field for more than 60% of the team’s offensive snaps, and he’s currently hitting that mark at 60.9%. Unfortunately, he has lost some snaps since Dalton Kincaid returned to the lineup, so it’s possible he falls below that threshold down the stretch.

The good news is that he’s only two catches away from his first reception bonus. He gets $100k at 30, 40 and 50 receptions, and he enters Week 16 with 28. He also needs 47 receiving yards over the remaining games to earn an additional $100k. There’s a good chance that he’ll pick up at least a couple of those.

Evan Engram

Engram’s signing has felt like a disaster, but the Broncos are a league-best 12-2. His involvement has picked up a bit in recent weeks, and he’s sitting on 41 receptions and 359 receiving yards. His first bonuses come at 60 receptions and 700 yards, and while those feel like long shots, they are at least worth mentioning.

Hunter Henry

Henry has some of the biggest incentives at tight end down the stretch. He has a receptions escalator that offers some big potential payouts:

Receptions: 46 currently; $250k bonuses at 50, 55, 60 and 65.

If he can climb all the way up the ladder, that would be an extra $1M in his pocket. He would need roughly 6.5 catches per game over his final three outings to get there, but he should at least be able to clear the first rung or two.

Juwan Johnson

Johnson has been an extremely reliable pro for the Saints, and they have the opportunity to earn him some extra money down the stretch. He’ll pick up an extra $250k if he can get to 70 receptions (62 currently), and he gets a $125k bonus at 700 receiving yards and a $250k bonus at 800 (644 currently). Personally, it feels like getting Johnson to those figures is the least that the coaching staff can do.

Players Mentioned in this Article

SamDarnoldQ
QBSEA
PPG
8.77
Proj
14.36
BakerMayfield
QBTB
PPG
13.28
RicoDowdle
RBCAR
PPG
6.37
JavonteWilliamsIR
RBDAL
PPG
10.82