Earlier today, we calculated the potential financial cost of Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson’s four-game suspension for violating the PED policy.
Watson’s deal carries $650,000 in incentives. He’ll still have a chance to earn the extra money.
Per a league source, Watson gets $250,000 if he participates in 35 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. He’ll get another $400,000 if he makes it to 45 percent.
Missing 25 percent of the season will make it harder to reach those limits, but far from impossible. He’ll basically need to get eight game’s worth of snaps in 12 games. So basically he’ll need to get roughly 66 percent of the snaps in the remaining games of the year to earn the full incentives. And he’ll need roughly half of the snaps in the remaining games of the year to get the first $250,000.
Watson will still lose In all $416,117 in salary and per-game roster bonuses. He also will lose, PFT has learned, $141,176 of his $600,000 signing bonus. The lower thresholds for the incentives were aimed at helping Watson earn back more than $550,000 in losses, and roughly $100,000 more if he gets to at least 45-percent playing-time for the season.