Beginning in the 2020 League Year, for the duration of this Agreement only, the Paragraph 5 Salary of any player on a Club’s Active/Inactive List at any time during the regular season will be not less than the following:

(all amounts in thousands of dollars)
(CS = Credited Seasons)

Beginning in the 2020 League Year, for the duration of this Agreement only, the Minimum Salary of any player not on a Club’s Active/Inactive List (excluding Practice Squad) shall be as follows:

(all amounts in thousands of dollars)
(CS = Credited Seasons)

Additional Game Check. Beginning in the 2021 League Year, for the duration of this Agreement only, in any League Year in which seventeen regular season games are played, any player whose NFL Player Contract specifies a Paragraph 5 Salary that exceeds the Minimum Salary for a player on the Club’s Active/Inactive List with such player’s own number of Credited Seasons, as defined in Section 2 of this Article, shall be eligible to receive an Additional Game Check subject to the following terms and conditions: (i) the player’s contract that specified Paragraph 5 Salary in the 2021 League Year or any subsequent League Year that exceeded the Minimum Salary for a player on the Club’s Active/Inactive List with such player’s own number of Credited Seasons was executed prior to February 26, 2020 (“First Contract”); (ii) the First Contract was not renegotiated and/or extended after such date, unless the renegotiation (and any subsequent renegotiation) was for the sole purpose of (1) converting any portion of a player’s Paragraph 5 Salary and/or Roster Bonus amounts set forth in the player’s NFL Player Contract into Signing Bonus (“Conversion”), provided that (A) the original term of the First Contract is not augmented, reduced and/or extended in any way (including, but not limited to, by means of new void and/or option provisions), unless the augmentation is the result of a provision stating that a specified contract year or years shall void automatically upon a specified day or date or upon the achievement of a roster condition with no additional contingencies (“Automatic Voidable Year”), and, upon achievement of such void provision, the original term of the First Contract remains unchanged; (B) the applicable Paragraph 5 Salary and/or Roster Bonus amounts are reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis by an amount equal to the resulting Signing Bonus; (C) all other compensation terms remain unchanged; and (D) no Salary guarantees were added to the renegotiated contract (except for the portion of the player’s Paragraph 5 Salary and/or Roster Bonus that was converted into Signing Bonus); and/or (2) adding non-compensation provision(s) to the NFL Player Contract that did not affect the original term and/or total compensation provided for in the First Contract (e.g., insurance clause), provided that no Salary guarantees were added to the renegotiated contract; (iii) the player was on the Club’s Active/Inactive List or Reserve/Injured List for the seventeenth game of that season, or the Club terminates the player’s contract prior to the seventeenth game of that season and (1) the player is eligible to claim Termination Pay under that contract; or (2) the player’s Paragraph 5 Salary in that League Year was guaranteed in whole (i.e., a guarantee that is applicable to all 18 weeks of the regular season during a season in which 17 regular season games are played) and he was terminated for a reason covered by the terms of that guarantee. A qualifying player shall receive an amount equal to one-seventeenth of his stated Paragraph 5 Salary for such League Year under the First Contract, which amount shall be paid to the player in lump sum at the conclusion of the regular season; provided, however, that in the event the Club terminates the player’s contract prior to the seventeenth game of the season and the player is eligible to claim Termination Pay under that contract, or the player’s Paragraph 5 Salary was guaranteed in whole, the full amount of player’s Additional Game Check shall be included in any claim for Termination Pay under that contract or in addition to the amount of the Paragraph 5 Salary guarantee. In the 2021 League Year, the first $48 million of the League-wide cost of the Additional Game Check shall be funded by the PerformanceBased Pool for the 2021 League Year, as provided in Article 28, with a corresponding reduction in the total amount of the Pool for that League Year. In the 2021 League Year, if the $48 million taken from the Performance-Based Pool is insufficient to fund the League-wide Cost of the Additional Game Check, the shortfall shall be funded by the 2021 Rookie Redistribution Fund, as provided in Article 7, Section 9, up to the total amount of the Fund for that League Year (i.e., up to $64 million). If the combined amount taken from the 2021 Performance-Based Pool and the 2021 Rookie Redistribution Fund (i.e., $112 million) is insufficient to fund the League-wide cost of the Additional Game Check, the shortfall shall be funded as a new Player Benefit that will be treated in the same manner as any other Player Benefit Cost. In the 2022-30 League Years, the League-wide Cost of the Additional Game Check shall be funded by the Rookie Redistribution Fund for the applicable League Year. If the Rookie Redistribution Fund for the applicable League Year is insufficient to fund the total cost of the Additional Game Check in that League Year, the shortfall shall be funded as a new Player Benefit that will be treated in the same manner as any other Player Benefit Cost.

Payment in 2020 League Year and in Final League Year.

In the 2020 League Year and the Final League Year, unless the Club and the player otherwise agree to defer a portion of the player’s salary in accordance with Section 6 below, each player will be paid at the rate of 100% of his salary in equal weekly or bi-weekly installments over the course of the regular season commencing with the first regular season game.

Any player under contract who is suspended without pay for any period during the 2020 League Year or the Final League Year will forfeit his entire Paragraph 5 Salary for any week(s) for which the player is suspended, which amounts shall be withheld in equal weekly installments over the period of his suspension. In each case of suspension referenced in this Section, no payments shall be withheld until any appeal under the applicable policy or Article has been exhausted.

Payment in 2021-2029 League Years.

In the 2021 League Year and in any subsequent League Year prior to the Final League Year, unless the Club and the player otherwise agree to defer a portion of the player’s salary in accordance with Section 6 below, each player under an NFL Player Contract will be paid at the rate of 50% of his Paragraph 5 Salary in equal weekly or biweekly installments over a period equal to twice the number of weeks for which the player is under contract with any Club. Any player under a Practice Squad Player Contract shall be paid at the rate of 100% of his Paragraph 4 Salary in equal weekly or bi-weekly installments over the course of the regular season. For the sake of clarity and the avoidance of doubt, a player who is under contract with a Club for an entire regular season in which there are 17 regular season weeks will be paid over a 34-week period; alternatively, a player who is under contract with a Club for an entire regular season in which there are 18 regular season weeks will be paid over a 36-week period.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Subsection(b)(i) above, a player who is removed from the roster prior to the final regular season game in any League Year after the 2020 League Year but prior to the Final League Year shall be paid the outstanding Paragraph 5 Salary owed to such player in lump sum no more than 14 days after contract termination.

Any player under contract who is suspended without pay for any period in any League Year after the 2020 League Year but prior to the Final League Year will forfeit his entire Paragraph 5 Salary for any week(s) for which the player is suspended, which amounts shall be withheld at the rate of: (i) 50% of his Paragraph 5 Salary in equal weekly installments over the period of his suspension; and (ii) 50% of his Paragraph 5 Salary in equal weekly installments over the course of a period equal to the number of weeks for which he was suspended, and which period shall commence on the week that falls the number of weeks for which the player was under contract after the first week of his suspension (e.g., if the player was under contract for 14 weeks, 14 weeks after the first week of his suspension); provided, however, that if the player is terminated prior to the final regular season week, the remaining balance of the forfeited Paragraph 5 Salary shall be deducted from the outstanding Paragraph 5 Salary owed to the player in lump sum no more than 14 days after contract termination.

Notwithstanding Section (b)(iii) above, if a bye week occurs during a suspension period, the player will receive his compensation for the bye week in equal installments over the remainder of the season after the expiration of his suspension for as long as he is under contract and with the Club that he was under contract with at the time of the commencement of his suspension.

Nothing in this Article invalidates or otherwise affects any compensation arrangement entered into between a Club and a player prior to the effective date of this Agreement that provides for deferral beyond the payment dates specified in this Section 5.

Nothing in this Section 5 shall apply to or affect the payment of weekly salary under any Practice Squad Player Contract, which shall be paid at the rate of 100% of the player’s Paragraph 4 Salary in equal weekly or bi-weekly installments over the course of the regular season.

Illustrative Examples for 18-Week Regular Season.

A player who is under contract with a Club for an entire 18-week regular season (i.e., 17 regular season games) in any League Year prior to the Final League Year, and whose Paragraph 5 Salary is $1,800,000, will be paid at the rate of $50,000 in equal weekly installments over the course of a 36-week period commencing with the first regular season week through and including the eighteenth week after the final week of that regular season.

A player who is under contract with a Club for an entire 18-week regular season in any League Year prior to the Final League Year, and whose Player Contract provides that the player’s Paragraph 5 Salary shall be paid at the annualized rate of that player’s applicable minimum Paragraph 5 Salary for “Players on Club’s Active/Inactive List” while on such list, and at the applicable minimum Paragraph 5 Salary for “Players Not on Club’s Active/Inactive List” while not on the Active/Inactive List, as those terms are used in Article 26, Sections 1 and 2 of this Agreement, and who is a member of the Club’s Physically Unable to Perform List for the first six weeks of that regular season before returning to the Club’s Active/Inactive List for the seventh week of the regular season, will be paid at the rate of (i) 50% of the applicable minimum Paragraph 5 Salary for “Players Not on Club’s Active/Inactive List” in equal weekly installments over the course of the six-week period commencing with the first week of the regular season through and including the sixth week of that regular season; (ii) 50% of the applicable minimum Paragraph 5 Salary for “Players on Club’s Active/Inactive List” in equal weekly installments over the course of the twelve-week period commencing with the seventh week of the regular season through and including the eighteenth week of that regular season; (iii) 50% of the applicable minimum Paragraph 5 Salary for “Players Not on Club’s Active/Inactive List” in equal weekly installments over the course of the six-week period commencing with the first week after the final week of the regular season through and including the sixth week after the final week of that regular season; (iv) 50% of the applicable minimum Paragraph 5 Salary for “Players on Club’s Active/Inactive List” in equal weekly installments over the course of the twelve-week period commencing with the seventh week after the final week of the regular season through and including the eighteenth week after the final week of that regular season.

A player who signs an NFL Player Contract or is traded or claimed after the first regular season game in any League Year prior to the Final League Year, will be paid at the rate of 50% of his Paragraph 5 Salary in equal weekly installments over the course of a period equal to twice the number of weeks for which the player is under contract and commencing with the first week for which he is under contract.

A player who signs an NFL Player Contract prior to the third week of the regular season in any League Year prior to the Final League Year, and who is under contract with that Club for the duration of the 18-week regular season (i.e., the player was under contract for sixteen weeks), and whose Paragraph 5 Salary is $1,800,000, will be paid at the rate of $50,000 in equal weekly installments over the course of a 32-week period commencing with the third week of the regular season through and including the sixteenth week after the final week of that regular season.

A player who signs an NFL Player Contract prior to the third week of the regular season in any League Year prior to the Final League Year, and whose contract is then terminated following the eighth week of the regular season (i.e., the player was under contract for six weeks), and whose Paragraph 5 Salary is $1,800,000, will be paid at the rate of $50,000 in equal weekly installments over the course of the six-week period commencing with the third week of the regular season through and including the eighth week of that regular season and, upon the player’s removal from the Club’s roster, a lump sum payment of $300,000 (i.e., the outstanding Paragraph 5 Salary owed to the player) no more than 14 days after contract termination.

A player who is suspended without pay for the second and third weeks of the regular season in any League Year prior to the Final League Year during which he is under contract with a Club for an entire 18-week regular season, and whose Paragraph 5 Salary is $1,800,000, will forfeit his entire Paragraph 5 Salary for the two weeks for which he was suspended, which amounts shall be withheld at the rate of (i) $50,000 in equal weekly installments over the course of the second and third weeks of the regular season; and (ii) $50,000 in equal weekly installments over the course of the twentieth and twentyfirst weeks of the 36-week pay period (i.e., seventeen weeks after the second and third weeks, respectively).

A player who is suspended for the second and third weeks of the regular season in any League Year prior to the Final League Year and whose contract is then terminated following the eighth week of the regular season (i.e., the player was under contract for eight weeks), and whose Paragraph 5 Salary is $1,800,000, will forfeit his entire Paragraph 5 Salary for the two weeks for which he was suspended, which amounts shall be withheld at the rate of (i) $50,000 in equal weekly installments over the course of the second and third weeks of the regular season; and (ii) $100,000 (i.e., the remaining amount of forfeited Paragraph 5 Salary), which shall be deducted from the outstanding Paragraph 5 Salary owed to the player in lump sum no more than 14 days after contract termination.