The Washington Commanders will be without their starting quarterback this Sunday, as Jayden Daniels has been ruled out with a knee injury. Veteran journeyman Marcus Mariota will be under center instead, and he is eligible to earn a nice salary bonus if he and the Commanders beat the Raiders in Week 3.
A Commanders Win On Sunday Would Earn $200,000 For Their QB
Mariota is in his second season with the Commanders. He signed on in 2024 to provide training camp competition to the then-rookie Daniels, but wound up in a backup role. Mariota made three relief appearances throughout the season, and performed well. He completed 34 of his 44 pass attempts, and racked up 364 yards and four touchdowns.
He was re-signed to another one year deal this offseason, and Mariota will make his first start since December 2022 this coming weekend.
Marcus Mariota can earn $200,000 for every regular season game that he plays in 60% of the snaps, and the #Commanders win.
That's in addition to an $8M base value contract for 2025.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) September 19, 2025
And if he leads his team to a victory, he’ll earn an extra $200,000.
Baked into Marcus Mariota’s contract are some playing time and achievement incentives. In addition to the $7.39M base salary, the soon-to-be 32-year-old also earns $30,000 for each game that he is active. But an even bigger boost is in order if the Commanders win. In games in which Mariota plays at least 60% of the offensive snaps and Washington is victorious, the QB is set to earn $200,000.
Washington Is A Slight Favorite Heading Into Sunday
According to the sportsbooks, the Commanders are favored to land their quarterback his incentive bonus. Despite having their backup under center, Washington is favored by 2.5 points over Las Vegas on Sunday. The line was originally set at 6.5 in the Commanders’ favor, but changed with the news of Daniels’ absence.
The Commanders will have had 9 full days off come Sunday afternoon, while the Raiders are the away team and operating on a short week.
Head coach Dan Quinn stressed that Daniels’ mobility would be the deciding factor in his playing status, saying he needed to watch the young quarterback in action in practice before making a decision.
Daniels, who sprained his left knee in the Week 2 loss to Green Bay, hasn’t been on the practice field this week, missing both Wednesday and Thursday sessions. He wasn’t visible on the field during Friday’s open viewing session, either.
