New York Jets safety Jordan Whitehead delivered the greatest performance of his career in the team’s Week 1 win over the Buffalo Bills, and it seems that productivity means the team will deliver a massive bonus check to him this week.
Monday night will go down as another frustrating evening in the long snakebitten history of the New York Jets. Entering this 2023 season opener against the rival Bills there was a huge amount of optimism about the team’s potential with future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Rodgers calling the plays this season on offense.
However, those positive vibes were dashed just four plays into the Jets’ first offensive drive when Rodgers likely tore his Achilles tendon. Which is expected to end his 2023 season and put New York on a very different trajectory for the rest of this year. Yet, the team battled back from the heartbreaking moment and still earned a surprise NFL Week 1 overtime victory.
- Jordan Whitehead stats (2022): 89 tackles, 2 interceptions
New York Jets safety nets six-figure bonus in NFL Week 1 win
A massive influence on the Jets’ win was six-year veteran Jordan Whitehead. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft pick had the game of his life as he set a new single-season high for interceptions in one night when he shockingly picked off superstar quarterback Josh Allen three times to keep his team in a game they should have lost.
Well, it seems that performance that he will never forget earned him a sizable reward. On Tuesday, ESPN NFL reporter Field Yates took to X/Twitter and wrote “It’s extremely rare for a player to hit an incentive in Week 1 of the regular season, but Jets S Jordan Whitehead did exactly that. His 3 interceptions earned him a $250,000 bonus.”
Related: New York Jets fear Aaron Rodgers suffered torn Achilles in debut with the team
The bonus is a solid chunk of change for the 26-year-old who is playing on a one-year deal worth just over $5 million in 2023. Whitehead’s previous high for interceptions is two, which he has gotten over the last three seasons.
The New York Jets will be back in action on Sunday night in a tough matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.