A common thought in the football world is that players will not lose money in a lockout until the regular-season games start. But offseason workout bonuses easily could be flushed away.
ESPN obtained a copy of some of the biggest workout bonuses that players have, and whom this lockout will hit in the wallet sooner rather than later. Jets offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson has the biggest offseason workout bonus -- $750,000 if he participates in 85 percent of the workouts.
Quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning and Jay Cutler each have $500,000 offseason workout bonuses. Rodgers must participate in 85 percent of the workouts, and Manning and Cutler 90 percent each.
If the lockout ends, the offseason schedule gets pushed back and a team has only five workouts, a player who needed more than 85 percent attendance would have to attend all of the workouts, because missing just one workout would put him at 80 percent attendance. If there is no offseason, the players would lose their workout bonuses entirely.
Whatever the numbers are, the bonuses are jeopardized the longer the lockout lasts.
Top Workout Bonuses
2011 NFL Workout Bonuses
Team Player Bonus Pct
New York Jets D'Brickashaw Ferguson $750,000 85
New York Giants Shawn Andrews $500,000 90
Seattle Seahawks Stacy Andrews $500,000 90
San Francisco 49ers Nate Clements $500,000 90
Chicago Bears Jay Cutler $500,000 90
Miami Dolphins Karlos Dansby $500,000 90
Washington Redskins DeAngelo Hall $500,000 85
Giants Eli Manning $500,000 90
Buffalo Bills Shawne Merriman $500,000 70
Arizona Cardinals Kerry Rhodes $500,000 85
*Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers $500,000 85
49ers Justin Smith $500,000 90
Jets Bryan Thomas $500,000 85
Bears Brian Urlacher $500,000 85
Dallas Cowboys DeMarcus Ware $500,000 90
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Donald Penn $400,000 85
Jets Mike DeVito $350,000 90
Dolphins Brandon Chillar $300,000 85
*Packers Greg Jennings $300,000 85
Giants Michael Boley $250,000 90
New England Patriots Tom Brady* $250,000 90
Bears Lance Briggs $250,000 85
Kansas City Chiefs Matt Cassel $250,000 90
Cardinals Darnell Dockett $250,000 90
New Orleans Saints Sedrick Ellis $250,000 90
*Packers Ryan Grant $250,000 85
Bears Devin Hester $250,000 85
Chiefs Derrick Johnson $250,000 90
Minnesota Vikings Bryant McKinnie $250,000 90
Redskins Donovan McNabb $250,000 85
Cincinnati Bengals Chad Ochocinco $250,000 85
Jets Calvin Pace $250,000 85
Cardinals Joey Porter $250,000 90
Giants Antrel Rolle $250,000 90
Jets Bart Scott $250,000 85
Patriots Ty Warren $250,000 90
Cardinals Adrian Wilson $250,000 90
Patriots Tully Banta-Cain $200,000 90
Saints Drew Brees $200,000 90
49ers Vernon Davis $200,000 90
*Packers Donald Driver $200,000 85
Saints Jahri Evans $200,000 90
Dolphins Brandon Marshall $200,000 90
*Packers Ryan Pickett $200,000 85
Jets LaDainian Tomlinson $200,000 85
Patriots Jerod Mayo $180,000 90
Indianapolis Colts Robert Mathis $160,000 90
*Packers Nick Barnett $150,000 85
Giants Justin Tuck $150,000 90
*Brady can recover in 2012; bonus increases to $500,000 if there are no 2011 workouts
ESPN wrote: