Amani Oruwariye got a nice reward for his first season as a starter.
Oruwariye led all Detroit Lions in performance-based pay, according to numbers released by the NFL Players Association.
A fifth-round pick out of Penn State in 2019 who started 15 games last season, Oruwariye will receive an extra $572,067 for his play in 2020.
Performance-based payouts, which are designed to reward players who outperform their contracts, are deferred until 2024 because of the NFL’s reduced revenue amid the COVID-19 pandemic and are made on top of players’ base salaries.
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Each NFL team had a performance-based pay pool of $8.5 million for 2020.
Oruwariye, who played nearly 90% of the Lions’ defensive snaps last season, is one of eight Lions who qualified for a payment of more than $250,000.
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Rookie guard Jonah Jackson ($487,322), safety Tracy Walker ($409,218), tackle Tyrell Crosby ($372,772), guard Oday Aboushi ($345,325), rookie nose tackle John Penisini ($316,832), linebacker Reggie Ragland ($291,930) and safety Will Harris ($254,174) join Oruwariye atop the list.
All but Aboushi and Ragland were on their rookie contracts and made less than $1 million last season.
In all, 74 Lions qualified for performance-based pay. Matthew Stafford, because of the size of his contract, earned a comparatively small payout of $27,068. Marcus Martin, who appeared in one game and played five special teams snaps, qualified for the smallest check by a Lion: $2,839.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.