Trent Brown has over a million reasons to win and keep the Bengals' starting right tackle job

The right tackle position was one of the Cincinnati Bengals' biggest needs in free agency, and Trent Brown became the answer. Brown signed a one-year deal with Cincinnati in March to compete for the starting job alongside first-round pick Amarius Mims.

On merit alone, Brown has the upper hand to win the battle over Mims. He's a 10-year veteran with many quality starting seasons already under his belt. It's why the Bengals signed him in the first place.  

He also has over a million reasons to win the job, and keep it for most of the season.

Trent Brown's contract incentives revealed  

Brown's contract is officially a one-year deal with a base value of $4,750,000. He will earn a base salary of $1.5 million, and has already earned $2 million via his signing bonus. He also has a $250,000 workout bonus, and can earn an additional $1 million in per game roster bonuses.

How many snaps Brown plays throughout the season will determine how much more money can he earn.

Included in Brown's contract are four tiers of incentives, as shown below courtesy of Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team: 

• 60% of snaps: $250,000
• 70% of snaps: $500,000
• 80% of snaps: $250,000
• 90% of snaps: $500,000

Add all of those up and you get $1.5 million. If Brown plays 90% of the Bengals' offensive snaps for the season, his total earnings for the years can become $6.25 million instead of just $4.75 million.

Brown is an ideal player to have these incentives added on to his contract. The former seventh-round pick has only played three full seasons since entering the NFL nine years ago. Injuries and a trip to the exempt list a few years back have forced Brown to be sideline for a good chunk of his career.

Incentivizing him to stay on the field is the logical method towards keeping him on the field. 

The Bengals knew they needed a player as talented as Brown to solidify their offensive line, but they also needed to prepare for all realities. That's where structuring his contract they way they did and drafting Mims came into play. 

Mims is an extraordinarily talented player in his own right, and could feasibly beat out Brown for the starting job sooner than later.

If the reason why Brown isn't on the field is Mims already being better than him, that's still a massive win for the Bengals. 

Brown has 1.5 million reasons to make sure that's not the case.