Trip to 2017 Pro Bowl earns several Raiders nice bonuses

Tuesday, the NFL announced that a league-best 7 Raiders players had been named to the 2017 Pro Bowl. For the players, the most important part is being named to the team. It adds a line to their resume, or as Kelechi Osemele said, he can check it off his bucket list.

But aside from the resume and bragging rights, many of these players have financial incentives in their contract for making the team.

Osemele’s bucket list check-off includes the largest Pro Bowl bonus on the team. He gets $300K for joining the team.

Donald Penn and Reggie Nelson get nice bonuses as well, pulling in $250K apiece.

And finally, Rodney Hudson who, along with Osemele, is making his first Pro Bowl appearance, will take home $100K for the accomplishment.

The Raiders other three Pro Bowlers — Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, and Amari Cooper -- are all still on their rookie contracts.

There is a catch, though — Unless they are excused from the team for medical reasons or playing in the Super Bowl, they must actually play in the game to receive their bonus.

Corry’s note about “orginal ballot only” excludes alternates. It means that even if any of the Raiders’ seven alternates make the team, they will not receive any bonuses written into their contracts.

As Osemele noted following the announcement he had been named to the Pro Bowl, he and the other Raiders players would love to be able to get out of the Pro Bowl in Orlando because they are booked in Houston for the Super Bowl. But if not, and even for players with the sizable contracts, an extra six figures is nothing to sneeze at. Certainly a charity of some kind would welcome that kind of donation.