New Vikings defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson signed a one-year, $3.6 million contract to come back to Minnesota this year, and the deal could become even more lucrative for the veteran if he has a highly productive season.
Here are the details on Richardson's contract incentives that could earn him up to an additional $1 million, via Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune:
- Richardson will hit a $250,000 incentive if he records five sacks, and a $500,000 incentive if he reaches seven sacks.
- He'll make $250,000 if he is named to the Pro Bowl after the season.
All of those incentives are considered "Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE)" because Richardson didn't reach them last year (he fell just short of the sack mark at 4.5). What that means is that if he does hit any of those incentives, they'll go on the Vikings' books in 2022, even if Richardson is no longer with the team. If there was an incentive for reaching four sacks, that would be deemed LTBE and would go on the books in 2021 if he hit that mark.
So how likely is Richardson to achieve any of these, terminology aside?
Not particularly, based on his history. He's had 4.5 sacks in two of the last three years, including 2018 with the Vikings, but those were seasons in which he played 74 percent of his team's defensive snaps (2020) and 69 percent (2018). Richardson seems unlikely to play that many snaps this year because of his role as a pass rushing specialist rotating in for Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson.
I'd guess Richardson plays somewhere in the range of 50 to 60 percent of the Vikings' snaps. However, those will come in situations where he'll have plenty of opportunities to get after the quarterback, so reaching five sacks for the first time since 2015 wouldn't surprise me. As for seven sacks and a Pro Bowl, he hasn't done either of those since his second NFL season in 2014 when he had eight sacks and made the game as an injury replacement. He's now 30 years old and no longer a full-time player, so I'd be shocked if he achieved either of those incentives.
Still, that extra $250,000 will be a bit of added motivation for Richardson to get to five sacks this year. Playing with Pierce, Tomlinson, Danielle Hunter, and Anthony Barr is a pretty good environment for him to make that happen.
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