The NFL distributed $542 million in its performance-based pay distributions for the 2025 season, the league announced Monday.

Not only was the total number up by $90 million from last offseason’s distribution, but this marked the first time since the program was instituted in 2002 that the top 25 players who earned the bonus each exceeded $1 million.

Cornerback Nahshon Wright, a 2021 third-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, played the 2025 season on a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears for a salary of $1.1 million. He was this year’s top earner from the performance-based pay program, more than doubling his salary by earning an additional $1,441,397. Wright turned his stellar season into a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the New York Jets this offseason.

This program was negotiated into the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2002 and has carried over for the subsequent three CBAs. The goal of this program is to reward players who earn significant playing time and have lower salaries. For example, Wright had played 10 percent of the defensive snaps for the Cowboys as a rookie in 2021. He played 27 percent of the defensive snaps in 2022 but then dipped to 7 percent in 2023 before Dallas traded him to the Minnesota Vikings, where he didn’t play a single defensive snap in 2024. That led to the Bears getting Wright on a cheap deal in 2025, where he proceeded to have a breakout season, playing 97 percent of the defensive snaps, as well as 4 percent of the team’s special teams snaps. After starting only three games in his first four seasons, Wright started 16 games in 2025 and had a career-high five interceptions, two forced fumbles and his first career touchdown.

Any player who plays one official down in the season is eligible to receive a compensation bump from the program. Players with higher playtime percentages and lower salaries generally benefit most.

The performance-based compensation pool comes from money saved by the reduced growth of both the rookie salary pool and minimum veteran salaries. The final figures are computed by using a player index. The formula to calculate the index takes a player’s “PBP Playtime” (regular-season total plays on offense, defense and special teams divided by the number of plays of the player with the most total combined played on that team) and divides it by their “PBP Compensation” (regular-season salary, prorated portion of signing bonus and earned incentives).

Each player’s index is then compared to those of his teammates to determine the amount of his performance-based pay. Essentially, each player is competing with his own teammates for a part of the performance-based pay pie. However, it’s important to note that this program and the funds that come from it are entirely independent of the salary cap, so there is no added stress or relief that comes as a result.

For context on how big the spike is for this year’s pool relative to last year, only five of the top 25 players who received bonus compensation topped $1 million. This year, 25 players topped an additional $1 million. Since the program’s inception in 2002, players have been paid nearly $3.3 billion, cumulatively. Here’s a look at this year’s top 25 earners, listed by the team they played for in 2025 and the additional compensation they earned through the program:

1. Nahshon Wright (Chicago Bears): $1,441,397

2. Ronnie Hickman  (Cleveland Browns): $1,293,843

3. Elijah Wilkinson  (Atlanta Falcons): $1,272,054

4. Nick Scott  (Carolina Panthers): $1,262,216

5. Chris Paul (Washington Commanders): $1,202,142

6. Andrew Vorhees (Baltimore Ravens): $1,199,318

7. Jalen Redmond (Minnesota Vikings): $1,184,087

8. Mason McCormick (Pittsburgh Steelers) $1,173,614

9. Chamarri Conner (Kansas City Chiefs): $1,150,312

10. Craig Woodson (New England Patriots): $1,149,910

11. Xavier Watts (Atlanta Falcons): $1,144,510

12. Riley Moss (Denver Broncos): $1,136,103

13. Devin White (Las Vegas Raiders): $1,133,486

14. Payton Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers): $1,102,206

15. Jack Jones (Miami Dolphins): $1,101,585

16. Anthony Bradford (Seattle Seahawks): $1,098,394

17. O’Cyrus Torrence (Buffalo Bills): $1,091,163

18. Matt Goncalves (Indianapolis Colts): $1,083,538

19. Kingsley Suamataia (Kansas City Chiefs): $1,067,367

20. Antonio Johnson (Jacksonville Jaguars): $1,065,214

21. Malachi Moore (New York Jets): $1,042,230

22. Dane Belton (New York Giants): $1,023,291

23. Drake Thomas (Seattle Seahawks): $1,022,512

24. Jordan Battle (Cincinnati Bengals): $1,021,703

25. Evan Williams (Green Bay Packers): $1,003,098