Jimmy Garoppolo, Cassius Marsh, Sheldon Day can earn money in Patriots, Jaguars playoff runs

The 2018 NFL playoffs kick off this weekend, and three members of the San Francisco 49ers have a vested interest in the outcome. Player contracts are for regular season play. There is a separate league pool for the playoffs, and players earn more the longer their team remains in the playoffs.

Jimmy Garoppolo, Cassius Marsh, and Sheldon Day all have a chance to earn playoff shares because of the circumstances with which they departed their previous teams. The New England Patriots traded Garoppolo to the 49ers following Week 8. The 49ers acquired Day from the Jacksonville Jaguars and Marsh from the Patriots via waivers following the team’s Week 11 bye.

Former NFL agent Joel Corry broke down the world of playoff pay, and it turns out that players previously on a team get paid in certain circumstances. Pay for the wild card and divisional round goes exclusively to players on the 53-man roster or injured reserve. Practice squad players continue to get their PS salary. However, if a team advances to the conference championship game, this changes. If a player spent at least eight games on a playoff team’s roster, he will earn the conference championship and Super Bowl playoff shares, so long as he is not now under contract to a team in the same conference.

Garoppolo and Marsh played eight and nine games, respectively, with the Patriots, while Day was with the Jaguars for ten games. That means they will earn money if those squads advance in the playoffs. An appearance in the AFC title game would net them $51,000. If one of those teams gets to the Super Bowl and lose, the players get $56,000. If they get to the Super Bowl and win, the players get $112,000.

If the Jaguars or Patriots win the Super Bowl, Day or Garoppolo and Marsh would earn $163,000 in playoff money. Suffice to say, we know who they will all be rooting for in the playoffs!