Following the 2002 season, the NFL introduced a new system of player compensation meant to benefit those who play close to minimum contracts. This so-called "performance-based pay" scheme awards players based on the number of snaps they play in relation to the contract they have signed.
Back when the first performance payout took place, San Francisco 49ers guard Eric Heitmann received the biggest share: His check over $42,048 led the NFL. 14 years later, this sum would place 37th other players ahead of him – on the New England Patriots’ roster alone. Heitmann’s 2002 pay would rank him right between what relatively high-earning veterans Martellus Bennett and Julian Edelman received this year.