Multiple members of Seahawks 2017 draft class in line for a raise in 2020

While there is still three more months until the 2020 NFL Draft takes place in Las Vegas, there are multiple members of the 2017 draft class of the Seattle Seahawks who will see their pay increase this coming season. NFL players drafted in the third through seventh rounds of the draft have the opportunity to earn an automatic raise in their fourth season if they reach any of multiple playing time thresholds during their first three years. For the Seahawks, that means three members of the team will see an automatic bump in their 2020 base salaries.

The automatic pay increase comes via the Proven Performance Escalator portion of the rookie wage scale, players selected in the third through seventh round who either:

• play 35% of their team’s cumulative offensive or defensive snaps during their first three years in the NFL

OR

• play 35% of their team’s offensive or defensive snaps during two of their first three individual seasons in the NFL

qualify for their fourth year salary to increase to be equal to the equivalent of the Original Round tender for Restricted Free Agents. The Original Round tender amounts have yet to be announced by the league, but OverTheCap.com currently projects it to be $2.144M.

Without wasting further time, the Seahawks who are set to enjoy the benefits of this automatic pay raise are:

• Shaquill Griffin,
• Tedric Thompson and
• Chris Carson.

It is entirely possible that both Griffin and Carson earn contract extensions this offseason, making the raise under the PPE less relevant. However, if for whatever the team does not feel either is worth extending or the two sides cannot come to an agreement on acceptable terms, both will see their base salary and cap hits increase in 2020.

The raise, like the fourth year of their rookie contracts, is non-guaranteed, so it’s entirely possible that these players may not actually see the money from their raise if they don’t make the 2020 roster (looking at Thompson on this one). However, because the PPE alters the base salary for the player, if any of these three happens to be waived by the Seahawks and claimed by another team, the new team would take on the player’s contract with the increased fourth year salary.

This is exactly what happened with Mark Glowinski, who was waived in late 2017, possibly with hopes that he would clear waivers, which would have terminated his rookie contract. In any case, that all became irrelevant when the Indianapolis Colts placed a waiver claim on Glowinski, and then went on to pay him his increased base salary in 2018 when he became a starter on their offensive line.

In any case, it’s possible that Griffin and Carson also qualified for Performance Based Pay bonuses, but those are not likely to be announced by the league for several more weeks, as those are typically announced right before the end of the league year in March.