Charvarius Ward leads NFL in performance-based pay bonus

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward led the NFL in performance-based pay bonuses for 2019 with an extra $428K coming to him.

Every year, the NFL hands out money to players who out-perform their contracts in the form of performance-based pay bonuses. This season, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward is the recipient of the single-biggest amount of money handed out, a nice lump sum total of $655K.

"He earned a total of $654,750, nearly 15 percent more than his 2019 salary, comprised of the following amounts: $428,335 from the Performance-Based Pay Pool, and an additional $226,415 from the Veteran Pool."

Ward, a product of Middle Tennessee State University, was the only Chiefs player in the top 25. Last year, Kendall Fuller and Andrew Wylie were among the Top 25 players earning PBP.

Ward has been a revelation at cornerback for the Chiefs ever since he first arrived shortly before the 2018 NFL season began. Ward was an undrafted free agent corner trying to make his way into a crowded Dallas Cowboys secondary. At the time, Dallas had some offensive line injuries and decided to make their roster decisions easier by shipping Ward to K.C. in exchange for guard Parker Ehinger.

Ward took some time to grow on the bench but ultimately worked his way into a starting role by season’s end. Down the stretch in December, Ward looked like a potential starter and left the Chiefs with a hope of a real find for 2019.

This last season, Ward not only started outside in a Chiefs secondary that was supposed to thin on talent and kept a boundary spot on lockdown. He started all 16 games for the Chiefs and batted away 10 passes and intercepted 2 more. Ward had 74 total tackles and 1 forced fumble in ’19 and should only get better with more experience as a starter.