Dontari Poe stands to make $500,000 if he can stay at 330 pounds

The Atlanta Falcons want Dontari Poe to play a little lighter, both to help him fit in a scheme that emphasizes speed and physicality and to keep him healthy throughout the season. To get him to lose 15 pounds or so and stay there in 2017, the Falcons have put some money behind the incentive.

Quite a bit of money, actually.

We don’t know if 330 is the target weight, as the story notes, but it’s the figure he has mentioned. The Falcons certainly don’t want Poe to lose so much weight that he becomes weaker or less effective, but having him moving as well as possible is the optimal outcome. His $8 million contract features $7.5 million in guaranteed money and then this $500,000 incentive, and given that the figure represents 1/16th of that contract, I imagine he won’t lack for motivation. Seeing how excited he is to play alongside Vic Beasley and Grady Jarrett is pretty great, too.

Look for Poe to show up this summer a little lighter on his feet. It should translate to a nice payout and a nice season for Atlanta’s newest, biggest free agent.