Chad Kelly's Canadian Football Contract Sets Him Up To Make Big Money Through Bizarre Incentive-Based Structure

Chad Kelly has had a tumultuous football career to this point, on both the amateur and professional levels. The former four-star recruit is playing in Canada and has one of the more unique contracts in sports.

Kelly, nephew to Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, began his collegiate career at Clemson, transferred to EMCC, and then finished as one of the best quarterbacks in Ole Miss history. From there, Mr. Irrelevant spent time with the Colts and Broncos but off-field issues kept him away from the field.

The repeated incidents ultimately caught up with Kelly and he has not been on an NFL roster since 2020. His inability to get an opportunity in the United States led him to sign with the Toronto Argonauts in February of 2022.

This stint in the Great White North is intended to help him get another shot. Kelly fully believes that he could be a starter in the NFL and his tape backs up that thinking.

Kelly's time in the Canadian Football League has been great so far. He won a Grey Cup in relief last season and earned the starting job outright for 2023. If anything, he's working too hard.

With the man they call 'Swag' at the helm, the Argos are 3-0. Kelly has been balling.

Not only is winning awesome, the better that Kelly plays, the more money he makes.

Chad Kelly has a very unique contract.

The vast majority of Kelly's money will be earned through incentives. Let's break it down:

In 2022, Kelly made a base salary of $67,000 plus an additional $12,000 for housing. As the primary backup for 17 games, he got an additional $8,500.

On top of that, because of Toronto's championship run, Kelly received the following:

Kelly made $101,833.33 in 2022, not including the $12,000 for housing.

2023 is on track to be even more lucrative. His salary was bumped from $67,000 to $75,000 and he still gets the additional $12,000 for housing.

Now, as the starting quarterback, Kelly still receives $3,333.33 for each game in which he plays more than 51% of the snaps. He has done so in every game thus far, totaling $9,999.99 through three games. That number will only continue to grow.

From there, Kelly's performance bonus benchmarks include:

Needless to say, it serves Chad Kelly to play well. Not only does the 29-year-old gunslinger want to win, he wants to make as much money as possible. Those two things have a direct correlation!