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Tony Jefferson again leads Cardinals in performance-based pay

TEMPE, Ariz. -- For the second-straight year, the highest performance-based pay on the Arizona Cardinals went to a safety whose role was whatever the defense needed him to do.

Tony Jefferson led all the Cardinals with $240,347.71 in performance-based pay, nearly half of his $585,000 salary in 2015. Jefferson was given a first right of refusal tender after the season worth $1.671 million but he has yet to sign it.

The only other Cardinal to eclipse the $200,000 mark was tight end Darren Fells, who took home $225,993.84.

Each team had $3.8 million to distribute based on a formula that compared how much a player is compensated to how much he contributes to his team. It tends to favor lower-paid players who either have starting roles or are top backups with high snap counts.

Wide receiver turned defensive back Brittan Golden earned $84,821.83. He earned $510,000 last season.

The lowest performance-based pay went to backup quarterback Drew Stanton, who earned $2,569.88 by playing in 4.2 percent of the Cardinals' snaps.

Here's a list of all the Cardinals who earned more than $100,000 in performance-based pay:

S Tony Jefferson: $240,347.71

TE Darren Fells: $225,993.84

WR John Brown: $190,406.58

S Tyrann Mathieu: $184,240.90

LB Markus Golden: $147,122.81

LB Alex Okafor: $146,471.45

RB David Johnson: $135,439.35

DT Rodney Gunter: $131,969.10

WR Jaron Brown: $130,860.59

ILB Kevin Minter: $130,445.89

DT Josh Mauro: $127,628.52

ILB Alani Fua: $123,264.35

DT Ed Stinson: $120,712.96