Josh Allen's MVP bonus surpasses Cowboys star Cooper Beebe's salary as Bills QB pips Lamar Jackson in final stretch

The wait for the National Football League to crown the Most Valuable Player for the 2024 season officially ended on Thursday night at NFL Honors. For most of the season, the race was down to Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. When all was said and done, the Buffalo Bills quarterback's campaign for his first-ever MVP succeeded as the voters named Allen 2024's MVP.

Like most stars in this league, Allen also had a kicker in his contract which included a hefty bonus if he took home the MVP award. ESPN's NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed that Allen's check amounted to a cool $1.5 million. As a yardstick, the Dallas Cowboys' third-round draft pick out of Kansas State Cooper Beebe took home a salary of $1.07 million in his first year in the league.

Allen's numbers were, of course, in league with Jackson's stats through the year. The first-time MVP winner finished the regular season with 3,731 passing yards (14th), 28 passing TDs (tied-7th), 6 interceptions (tied-29th), 531 rushing yards (5th), and 12 rushing TDs (2nd).

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Controversy erupts over MVP voter who put Lamar Jackson in 4th place

When all was said and done, Josh Allen finished with 27 first-place votes and 22 second-place votes. Jackson, on the other hand, finished with 23 first-place votes, 26 second-placed votes and a solitary fourth-place vote.

That fourth-place vote stood out like a sore thumb given the season Jackson had. Many fans believed Jackson should have won a third MVP, with a section of fans putting his loss down to voter fatigue.

Former Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith named the voter in question - Jim Miller - after the Associated Press made the details of every ballot public.

Miller, a former NFL QB turned Sirius XM radio host, had Josh Allen at the top of his ballot followed by Saquon Barkley and Joe Burrow. Patrick Mahomes was fifth on his ballot.

Meanwhile, Tom Brady picked Jackson as his MVP, placing Allen second, followed by Barkley, Ja'Marr Chase and Burrow. Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy also had Jackson first on his ballot followed by Josh Allen, Barkley, Justin Herbert and Jayden Daniels.