Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire was on the Kansas City Chiefs’ 53-man roster for nine games this season before he was released on Dec. 17. He quickly found a spot on the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad. Edwards-Helaire stands to gain from Kansas City making a deep playoff run. If the Chiefs three-peat as Super Bowl champions, Edwards-Helaire will get $248,000 because of the way money gets allocated during the postseason.
Compensation in the playoffs is much different than during the regular season. A majority of players take a sizable pay cut in the playoffs because their salaries have no bearing on what they get during the postseason. Playoff money comes from a league pool instead of from NFL teams. There is a specific amount for each playoff round where each eligible player gets paid the same.
Pay scale
Players will receive the following amounts for the 2024 season’s playoffs:
Wild-card round
- Division winners: $54,500
- Other wild-card teams: $49,500
- Wild-card byes: $49,500
Divisional round: $54,500
Conference championship game: $77,000
Super Bowl
- Winning team: $171,000
- Losing team: $96,000
Players earn their base salary over the course of the 18-week regular season. For example, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford earned a little more than $1.305 million per week from his $23.5 million base salary, which was the league’s highest, during the regular season. He made $54,500 for Los Angeles’ wild-card playoff game win over the Minnesota Vikings as did 2023 Second Team All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua and the rest of their Rams teammates. The $915,000 Nacua earned for the entire regular season is about $400,000 less than Stafford’s weekly earnings. Postseason money for wild card and divisional playoff games is comparable to the weekly earnings of a player making the $985,000 third-year player minimum salary ($54,722 per week).
The maximum a player can make in this season’s playoffs from his current team is $357,000. The Super Bowl winner would have to be a division winner that participated in the wild-card round (Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles or Rams). The most that can be made from playing on the other playoff participants is $352,000. The remaining playoff teams whose players could make $352,000 are the Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders.
For a player like Chiefs punter Matt Araiza, winning the Super Bowl would be more meaningful financially than to most of his teammates. Araiza earned $795,000 in 2024 from his NFL player contract. An additional $352,000 would be nearly 45% of what Araiza earned in 2024 playing football.
Payment eligibility
Players on the 53-man roster and injured reserve at game time receive payment for wild-card and divisional playoff games. Practice squad players continue to get paid at their weekly rate for as long as their respective teams are in the playoffs.
That’s $12,500 per week for most practice squad players. Longtime veterans make between $16,800 and $21,300 a week.
Teams are allowed to expand the 53-man roster to 54 or 55 players by elevating up to two practice squads players for each regular or postseason game. The elevated players get paid like the others on the 53-man roster and injured reserve for the first two playoff rounds. Veteran safety Kareem Jackson is collecting $54,500 for the Bills beating the Denver Broncos to advance to the divisional playoffs instead of $16,800 because he was elevated for the game.
Payment eligibility is more complicated for the conference championships and Super Bowl. The payment requirements for these two playoff rounds are outlined below.
Full amount
- Players on the 53-man roster when the game is played that have been on the roster for at least three previous games (regular season or playoffs).
- Veterans (at least one year of service) put on injured reserve during the regular season who are still under contract when the game is played.
- Vested veterans (four or more years of service) put on injured reserve during the preseason who are still under contract when the game is played.
- Players who aren’t on the 53-man roster at game time that spent at least eight games on the roster (regular season or playoffs) provided they’re not under contract to another team in the same conference.
Multiple Lions defensive starters (linebacker Derrick Barnes, edge rusher Marcus Davenport, cornerback Carlton Davis, Aidan Hutchinson, defensive tackle Alim McNeill) are among the players eligible for payment through the second category. The same holds true for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice because of the right knee injury he suffered in a Week 4 contest versus the Los Angeles Chargers.
Eagles defensive back James Bradberry qualifies for payment under the third category. The nine-year veteran has been on injured reserve with a lower leg injury since late August.
Edwards-Helaire’s potential $248,000 is because of the last category. Safety Mike Edwards has a chance to receive payment from two different teams in the playoffs thanks to the final category. He will be getting $54,500 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season-ending loss to the Commanders. Edwards spent nine games with the Bills before his release in early November. The Bills are in the AFC East while the Buccaneers are in the NFC South.
Edge rusher Casey Toohill is in a unique position because of the last category. He is currently on the Bills’ practice squad. Toohill was on Buffalo’s 53-man roster for first 14 games this season.
Toohill would make $16,800 more than Buffalo players on the 53-man roster for the final two playoff rounds because he would also get practice squad pay as long as he wasn’t elevated for either of those games. For example, Toohill would get $93,800 for the AFC Championship game provided he wasn’t promoted to the 53-man roster while quarterback Josh Allen and offensive tackle Dion Dawkins, the two highest-paid players on the Bills, would each make $77,000.
Half amount
- Players on the 53-man roster when the game is played who have been on the roster for less than three previous games (regular season or playoffs).
- First-year players put on injured reserve during the regular season who are still under contract when the game is played and signed a player contract or practice squad contract in a prior season.
- Non-vested veterans (one to three years of service) put on injured reserve during the preseason who are still under contract when the game is played.
- Players who aren’t on the 53-man roster at game time that spent between three and seven games on the roster (regular season or playoffs) provided they’re not under contract to another team in the same conference.
Texans linebacker Devin White can double dip on playoff money, like Edwards, but to a lesser degree because of his four-game stint with the NFC East champion Eagles at the start of the season. He is assured of $109,000 because the Texans beat the Chargers in an AFC wild-card game. White stands to collect an additional $124,000 if Philadelphia wins the Super Bowl. The last category is also applicable to wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. He was released by the AFC East champion Bills six games into the season. Valdes-Scantling spent the last 11 weeks of the season with the Saints, who are in the NFC South.
There is one more category that receives a one-quarter share for conference championships and the Super Bowl: first- year players put on injured reserve during the preseason who are still under contract when the game is played. They also must have been on a team’s practice squad for at least eight games in a prior season or received one or two game checks while on a team’s 53-man roster or injured reserve in a prior year in order to qualify for payment.
Payments during the playoffs must be made within 15 days after a game has been played.
