IRVING, Texas – La'el Collins earned a starting job in his rookie season, as well as a nice chunk of extra change through the NFL's "Performance-Based Pay" program that compensates players based on playing time relative to their salaries.
Collins ranked 14th among NFL players with a $277,940 performance-based pay distribution, the league announced.
The program has been in place since the 2002 Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association. To determine his performance-based pay distribution, a player's regular-season playing time (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) and then compared to those of his teammates, the league states.
Undrafted in 2015, Collins started 11 games at left guard and played 70 percent of the Cowboys' offensive snaps (710 of 1,019).