While many on the outside view playing in the NFL as an ultimate privelage, for the majority of players, everyday in the NFL could be their last.
That's especially true for day three draft picks, who have the shortest leash of anyone on the roster.
And for Pittsburgh Steelers LT Dan Moore Jr., that has been the case, though he continues to outperform expectations, and has once again been rewarded for it:
Dan Moore Jr. Earns PPE Raise
Under the Performance-Based Pay program, a fund is created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation based upon a comparison of playing time to salary. Players become eligible to receive a bonus distribution in any regular season in which they play at least one official down. In general, players with higher playtime percentages and lower salaries benefit most from the pool. -NFL Communications
Simply put, a player receives the bonus when they play more than their draft positioning would suggest.
A fourth-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2021, Moore is still on his rookie deal and thus has a low salary, especially because of where he was drafted.
Since he's started 16 games or more in all three years of his career, Moore is within the top 25 of players to receive a PPE bonus, and it will allocate an additional $740k to his salary in 2024.
Now despite the playing time and bonus, there is a shot that Moore isn't even on team come September, or at least according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
“They had to start him [Dan Moore Jr.] as a rookie, Fittipaldo told 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. "He wasn’t very good, got a little bit better each and every year, but he’s still not a guy that I want as my blindside protector. I think he’s a guy who has the respect of Mike Tomlin and Pat Meyer. I think he’s worked hard to achieve that. But he’s certainly a guy who could be over-recruited, and he’s a guy who could potentially not be on this roster in 2024 if things break a certain way with the draft and how these guys come along.”
Fittipaldo isn't necessarily wrong, as Moore Jr. allowed most of the Steelers' pressure by percentage, and was ranked as the eigth-worst pass-protecting tackle by PFF.
But to think he wouldn't be on the team at all is a bit hyperbolic in my opinion, as he's an excellent swing tackle (The NFL's equivalent of a 6th man) given his durability and proven play at LT.
So regardless of what Pittsburgh decides, Moore knows he has already defied the odds, and he can look at his bank account as a reminder thanks to the NFL.
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