MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings' extensive use of young players in 2015 meant a number of first- and second-year contributors earned a nice sum of extra cash for their work.
T.J. Clemmings -- a fourth-round pick who started all 16 games for the team at right tackle -- earned the second-largest performance pay bonus of any player in the NFL, taking home an extra $359,396.31 for his work this season. The NFL gave each team more than $3.8 million for performance pay distributions, to continue its annual practice of rewarding players whose snap counts far outweighed their salaries.
In all, 12 Vikings earned more than $100,000 in extra money from the performance pay pool, with fifth-round pick Stefon Diggs coming in behind Clemmings at $251,099.26. Diggs, a fifth-round pick earning only $662,712 in cash last season, led the Vikings in catches (52) and yards (720) while playing in 13 games last season.
The Vikings' highest-paid player -- Adrian Peterson, who made more than $15.4 million while taking a limited role in the passing game and playing only 45.54 percent of the team's offensive snaps -- wasn't helped much by the performance pay pool: Peterson netted only $8,056.65.
Here is a full list of the Vikings' performance pay bonuses:
T.J. Clemmings: $359,396.31
Stefon Diggs: $251,099.26
Adam Thielen $172,306.16
Danielle Hunter: $162,202.80
Eric Kendricks: $160,527.21
Andrew Sendejo: $151,567.06
Joe Berger: $133,638.46
Mike Harris: $132,287.19
MyCole Pruitt: $129,728.61
Teddy Bridgewater: $118,562.26
Zach Line: $109.991.96
Jerick McKinnon: $103,851.37
Matt Asiata: $95,071.41
Antone Exum: $90,684.10
Xavier Rhodes: $87,544.69
Scott Crichton: $85,457.33
Rhett Ellison: $81,499.88
Edmond Robinson: $81,023.08
Charles Johnson: $79,637.70
Anthony Harris: $70,958.45
Terence Newman: $70,370.51
Harrison Smith: $66,863.95
Tom Johnson: $61,976.26
Brandon Fusco: $57,640.97
Anthony Barr: $54,395.14
Jason Trusnik: $54,285.38
Robert Blanton: $51,617.79
Sharrif Floyd: $48,278.00
Brandon Watts: $48,067.37
Kevin McDermott: $46,146.05
Marcus Sherels: $46,047.57
Jeff Locke: $43,104.95
Audie Cole: $38,999.40
Gerald Hodges: $38,055.80
Jarius Wright: $36,309.35
Captain Munnerlyn: $35,020.51
Trae Waynes: $32,736.77
Matt Kalil: $31,368.58
Brian Robison: $30,786.10
Austin Shepherd: $28,500.27
Kyle Rudolph: $26,361.87
Shamar Stephen: $22,701.75
Chad Greenway: $22,285.58
Kenrick Ellis: $22,282.18
Linval Joseph: $22,240.85
Everson Griffen: $20,178.16
Justin Trattou: $18,687.21
Mike Wallace: $14,100.38
Blair Walsh: $13,563.66
Cordarrelle Patterson: $12,018.80
Adrian Peterson: $8,056.65
Zac Kerin: $8,893.85
Josh Robinson: $7,044.02
Shaun Prater: $2,746.66
Zach Moore: $2,122.79
Shaun Hill: $1,609.98