Kansas City Chiefs Players Have Extra Cash Incoming After Super Bowl Win

The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl LVIII champions after defeating the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22, in overtime on Sunday, and along with a championship ring and the ability to hoist the Lombardi Trophy (again), each winning player also has more than one hundred thousand reasons to celebrate the victory.

For being on the Super Bowl-winning team, each Chiefs player will receive $164,000 in additional compensation, as described in the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. 49ers players will receive $89,000 for being on the losing team.

Players will be paid their bonuses within 15 days of Sunday's game, according to Article 37, Section 5 of the agreement.

These per-player payouts have been ongoing throughout the postseason. Chiefs players also earned $50,500 for beating the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card round, and then an additional $50,500 for a Divisional Round win over the Buffalo Bills. Beating the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game secured another $73,000 each for Kansas City's players. Add a Super Bowl win, and this postseason has been lucrative in more ways than once in KC.

This bonus may seem insignificant to stars like Patrick Mahomes (and his $450 million contract) or Travis Kelce, but an extra $164k is far from nothing to players on rookie deals, including running back Isiah Pacheco ($870,000 base salary in 2023 contract, per Spotrac) and wide receiver Rashee Rice ($750,000). Plus $89,000 to "Mr. Irrelevant" Brock Purdy represents a good chunk of his base payment for this season ($870,000).

For comparison, Green Bay Packers players received $15,000 each for winning Super Bowl I, according to USA Today, while the losing Chiefs got $7,500.

The $164,000 bonus is up from $157,000 last season and will jump up to $171,000 next year.

But Kansas City probably has bigger things on its mind right now than performance details. The Chiefs have now won three championships in the last five seasons, with the latest coming in the league's second-ever overtime Super Bowl. Mahomes and company have trailed by at least 10 points in each of those four Super Bowls, but still boast a record of 3-1.

After letting go of its early 10-0 advantage, San Fran took a three-point lead with 1:53 remaining in regulation and was on the cusp of its first title since the 1994 season. But Mahomes didn't let that happen. Kansas City went 64 yards on 11 plays—including a key 22-yard connection between Mahomes and Kelce—to set up a game-tying field goal. Then, in overtime, the Chiefs' defense held the 49ers to a three, KC's two-time MVP ran for a fourth-down conversion on the ensuing drive, then a Mahomes-to-Mecole Hardman three-yard score clinched the dramatic win.

Mahomes earned Super Bowl MVP honors for the third time, joining Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the three players in NFL history to boast at least three of them. And the Chiefs are the first team since Brady's 2003-04 New England Patriots to repeat as champions.

"It's the start of one, we're not done," Mahomes said during a postgame interview when asked if the Chiefs are a dynasty. "I know we're gonna celebrate tonight, celebrate at the parade in Kansas City, but we're not done."