Solomon Thomas might earn more money with the Jets if he increases his output.
According to Connor Hughes of The Athletic, the defensive lineman may earn $340,000 in per-game roster bonuses and $1.5 million in performance incentives over the course of his one-year contract with the Jets. Thomas’ contract included a $476,000 signing bonus in addition to a base salary of $1.434 million.
Signing a contract with a sizable incentive package makes sense for Thomas and the Jets. Thomas is aware that, since the 49ers selected him third overall in 2017, he hasn’t had much of an impact. The 26-year-old defensive end has played in 65 career games but has only 9.5 sacks to his name.
Since the Jets are constantly searching for rotational defensive line depth, a career-high 3.5 of those sacks occurred last year, Thomas’ sole season with the Raiders. Thomas, on the other hand, is familiar with New York’s defense from his experience working with Robert Saleh in San Francisco.
As Thomas tries to reach his potential, this deal presents the Jets with a low-risk, high-reward scenario.