METAIRIE – Having been eliminated from playoff contention, most New Orleans Saints have but one reason to play their best in Sunday's season finale in Tampa Bay: pride.
Outside linebacker Junior Galette, however, has a few million reasons to deliver his finest performance of the season.
Prior to the start of the season, Galette signed a four-year incentive-laden contract extension worth $41.5 million ($23 million guaranteed) that could be worth as much as $48 million by its completion in 2019.
There's just one catch, though. Galette needs to finish the season with 12 sacks to trigger the contract's bonus structure. He currently has nine.
If Galette manages three sacks on Sunday, he'll be in line to earn a $2.5 million roster bonus if he's on the roster on the third day of the league year in 2016, which is the first year of his new deal. He'll likewise receive roster bonuses of $1.5 million in 2017, $1.3 million in 2018 and $1.2 million in 2019.
Again, it's all predicated on reaching 12 sacks this season – the same number he finished with in 2013.
Galette, who couldn't help but grin when asked if he has extra incentive to perform on Sunday, said he's trying not to think about it.
But he added, "Of course, I'm human. Everybody loves more money. …
"If it happens, the good Lord put it out there for me to have it. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be."
A three-sack game isn't out of the realm of possibility for Galette, though it's only happened once during his five-year NFL career — last season in the 31-13 Week 13 home win over Carolina. He's had two sacks in a game twice this season, most recently against Chicago two weeks ago, and also at Carolina in Week 8 – both Saints wins.
Galette maintains he's simply focused on "finishing," not wanting to end the season "with a bad taste" in his mouth should the Saints lose to the 2-13 Buccaneers.
"I was taught as a young kid to finish whatever you do — finish it — whether it's eating breakfast, a football game, you got to finish," he said. "That's the attitude you got to have.
"If you love the game like you truly like you say you do, you got to finish and play your hardest."
