A Profitable Day for Lazard

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It was a good day for Allen Lazard.

On Thursday, the NFL announced the Green Bay Packers’ towering receiver would receive $307,304 from the NFL’s performance-based pay pool. That was the 23rd-highest payday in the league.

With the Packers in dire straits in Week 6 against Detroit, quarterback Aaron Rodgers went to then-receivers coach Alvis Whitted and suggested Lazard be given a chance. The Packers likely wouldn’t have won the game without Rodgers’ input and they might not have reached the NFC Championship Game without it. Kick-started by his four catches for 65 yards and one touchdown vs. the Lions, Lazard caught 35-of-52 passes (67.3 percent) for 477 yards (13.6 average) and three touchdowns. All of that came over 11 games. Projected to 16 games, that works out to 51 receptions, 694 yards and four touchdowns.

Of 79 receivers to be targeted 50 times, Lazard ranked 42nd with 1.62 yards per pass route and 46thin drop rate (three; 7.9 percent), according to Pro Football Focus. He had three drops but became a trusted weapon on third down and reliable blocker. Plus, he tied for third on the team with seven tackles on special teams.

“Allen did a great job, man,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on the “Wilde and Tausch” radio show recently. “I’m really excited about him. He earned it. He earned it, every rep he got. He’s a guy that we initially cut to start the season and brought him back on the practice squad. He was obviously activated in Week 1. Just the effort, the intensity, he’s a very intelligent player. He earned it on special teams first. I think that’s kind of a good blueprint for young players coming in. You produce on special teams, you earn that trust from the coaching staff. He did that.”

In total, players will receive $147.952 million for their performances during the 2019 season. Under the program, a fund is created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation based on 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 pools.

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward earned the highest combined distribution for 2019. He earned a total of $654,750 – $428,335 from the performance-based pay pool and an additional $226,415 from the veteran pool – nearly 15 percent more than his salary. Ward, an undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State in 2018, started all 16 games for the Chiefs last season, playing in nearly 95 percent of the defensive plays and 26 percent of the special-teams plays.

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