Even with Paxton Lynch first-round miss, Broncos got considerable value out of 2016 draft

Even with their first-round whiff on quarterback Paxton Lynch, the Broncos are getting impressive production from their 2016 draft class.

Connor McGovern, a fifth-round guard out of Missouri, led all Broncos with a $445,424 performance bonus this year.

The NFL and players union distributed performance and playing time-based bonus payments Wednesday. The bonuses are based on a formula where a low player’s salary and higher amount of playing time equals the greatest bonus payments. Chris Harris Jr. and Matt Paradis once topped these lists as undrafted and sixth-round players, respectively, who never came off the field.

They made good money in 2018, though, so their performance bonuses shrunk considerably.

McGovern drew the third-year minimum $630,000 salary last year, but lined up for 1,056 plays, or 98.3 percent of the offensive snaps while playing at both right guard and center. Thus, his bonus that put his overall earnings past $1.075 million.

Justin Simmons, a third-round safety out of Boston College in 2016, was second among Broncos with a $408,952 performance bonus.

He, too, drew a $630,000 salary while playing 100 percent of the 1,077 defensive snaps.

Also getting decent performance bonuses from the Broncos’ 2016 draft class were sixth-round safety Will Parks, sixth-round fullback Andy Janovich, fourth-round running back Devontae Booker, and second-round defensive end Adam Gotsis.

A look at the 65 Broncos players who got a performance payout from their play in 2018. Note: Chad Kelly is last on a list for not the first time.

Player ………........…. Bonus

Connor McGovern ..... $445,424

Justin Simmons ......... $408,952

Will Parks ................... $303,723

Elijah Wilkinson ......... $268,066

Matt LaCosse ............ $247,153

Tim Patrick ................. $237,112

Josey Jewell .............. $220,555

Andy Janovich ........... $210,999

Phillip Lindsay ............ $201,592

Shelby Harris ............. $194,032

Adam Gotsis .............. $187,652

Jeff Heuerman ............ $184,734

Joseph Jones ............. $175,987

Devontae Booker ....... $169,617

DaeSean Hamilton ..... $164,244

Garett Bolles ............... $145,724

Brian Parker ................ $130,706

Courtland Sutton .......... $128,860

Isaac Yiadom ................ $123,838

Keishawn Bierria ........... $115,409

Billy Turner .................... $105,291

Dymonte Thomas .......... $87,876

Zach Kerr ....................... $86,556

Royce Freeman .............. $80,027

Todd Davis ...................... $74,263

Adam Jones .................... $70,552

Matt Paradis .................... $67,901

Su'a Cravens ................... $67,155

Casey Kreiter ................... $64,462

Shaquil Barrett ................. $59,016

Shamarko Thomas ........... $57,477

Tramaine Brock ................ $55,693

River Cracraft .................... $53,304

Darian Stewart ................... $48,488

Domata Peko ..................... $46,505

Max Garcia ........................ $45,966

Colby Wadman .................. $44,212

Jake Butt ........................... $40,128

Temarrick Hemingway ....... $37,461

Bradley Roby ..................... $35,717

Jared Veldheer ................... $34,067

Shane Ray ......................... $33,466

Bradley Chubb .................... $32,494

Von Miller ............................ $27,316

Derek Wolfe ........................ $23,636

Case Keenum ...................... $23,477

Chris Harris Jr. ...................... $22,949

Brandon Marshall .................. $21,888

Andre Holmes ........................ $21,342

Brendan Langley .................... $19,910

Jeff Holland ............................. $19,866

Emmanuel Sanders ................. $19,753

Gino Gradkowski ..................... $18,464

Ronald Leary ........................... $14,423

Brandon McManus ................... $12,547

Jamar Taylor .............................. $10,583

Sam Jones ................................. $10,161

Trey Marshall .............................. $8,578

Demaryius Thomas ..................... $8,539

DeMarcus Walker ........................ $6,958

Cyrys Kouandjio ........................... $6,388

Marquette King ............................ $5,890

A.J. Johnson ................................ $4,774

Isaiah McKenzie ........................... $2,243