The highest-paid players in the Super Bowl

The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks took much different roads on the way to the Super Bowl in terms of how they paid their top players.

Of the 15 players in the Super Bowl with the largest base salaries during the 2014 season, the top six all play for the Seahawks, led by left tackle Russell Okung, who made $8.76 million this season, based on data from Spotrac.com.

The largest base salary during this season for the Patriots went to safety Devin McCourty, who made just $3.92 million.

However, if we look at each team's top cap hits this season things look much different. A player's cap hit includes his salary, as well as bonuses received during the year and a prorated portion of the player's signing bonus.

It's clear the Patriots invest more in bonuses for their top players as their cap hits for several players are considerably larger than their base salaries.

Now, understandably, Tom Brady tops the list, thanks in large part to the $30 million signing bonus he received when he signed his new contract prior to the 2013 season.