Matt Feiler can buy a whole lotta toilet paper with his recent bonus.
Late Thursday, the NFL announced its distribution of performance-based payouts, and Feiler cracked the top 10, coming in at No. 7 after collecting $387,578 for his play with the Steelers in 2019.
Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward earned the highest combined distribution of all NFL players in the 2019 Performance-Based Pay program. He earned a total of $654,750, nearly 15 percent more than his 2019 salary. Here’s his performance-based pay and other notable ones as well. pic.twitter.com/erYQYjJODG
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2020
Feiler went undrafted in 2014 and played a season with the Texans after receiving a tryout for rookie minicamp and making the cut. Then, he came to the Steelers in 2016, making spot starts from 2016 - 2018 before taking over for an injured Marcus Gilbert midway through 2018 and becoming the full-time right tackle for the 2019 season.
He started all 16 games in the Steelers' 8-8 campaign last year, moving to left guard briefly in Week 9 for his team's matchup with the Rams and Aaron Donald. While Donald did register a safety, a sack and three tackles for a loss in that game, Feiler generally rated well throughout the season, and now he's rewarded for his efforts.
For reference, Feiler, who is a restricted free agent for the Steelers this offseason, made $645,000 base salary in 2019. The performance-based pay, then, represents a 60-percent financial boost for him. Not bad.
The system is defined as a “collectively bargained benefit that compensates all players, including rookies, based upon their playing time and salary levels," per the NFL. IN 2019, the NFL awarded $147.952 million total in performance-based payouts.
Topping that list this season was Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward, a 2018 undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State who netted $428,335 for his efforts throughout his team's Super Bowl-winning run.
Feiler was the only Steelers player named in the top 25.
