The Miami Dolphins expected Byron Jones, Nik Needham, and Trill Williams to help fill out the team’s secondary in 2022 — things didn’t entirely go according to plan.
Injuries devastated Miami’s expected group of cornerbacks and undrafted free agent Kader Kohou, who played his college football at Texas A&M Commerce, was forced into action and started 13 games last season.
Kohou played 77.4 percent of the team’s snaps last season, according to Lineups.com, while earning $715,000 — or 0.3 percent of the team’s total salary cap — according to Over The Cap.
As part of the league’s 2002 collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association, performance-based pay was created to supplement players based on playing time and salary levels.
Here are the Top 25 earners in the NFL’s annual performance-based pay amounts for 2022.
This rewards players who are on the lower end of the pay scale but play a significant percentage of snaps for their teams.
This is a player benefit only and has zero impact on the cap. pic.twitter.com/N01D87LQk8
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 17, 2023
On March 17, the NFL released a list of the top-25 earners in the performance-based pay program for 2022 and Kohou was one of four undrafted free agents to earn a spot.
As a result, Kohou received $705,584 for being a key member of Miami’s secondary. While this payment benefits the player, it does not impact the salary cap.
Kohou, 24, allowed receptions on 74 of the 115 targets that came his way last season as a rookie. His top game as a rookie was against the New York Jets in Week 18, he allowed just one reception on five targets.
He closed the year with 10 pass breakups, one forced fumble, and an interception, which came in Week 16 against the Green Bay Packers.
Injuries derailed the position last year, but Miami’s cornerback group will look different in 2023. The Dolphins hit the ground running this offseason by acquiring Jalen Ramsey from the Los Angeles Rams and made him one of the league’s highest-paid cornerbacks to pair with Xavien Howard.
While those two will headline the team’s secondary, Kohou proved he can have a positive impact on the field and it’ll be up to new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to make all the pieces fit.
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