15th NFL Honors
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The 15th NFL Honors, presented by the National Football League, celebrated the absolute best of the 2025 NFL season. Hosted by the incredibly talented Jon Hamm, this year's ceremony unfolded on February 5th, 2026, within the stunning Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California. For those who couldn't be there, it was broadcast live on NBC and NFL Network, with convenient streaming on Peacock and NFL+.
And the hardware went to... Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams! He's finally claimed his first-ever Most Valuable Player award, a testament to his incredible season. Stafford dominated the league, leading with a staggering 4,707 passing yards and a phenomenal 46 touchdowns. In what was the closest MVP vote since 2003, he narrowly edged out the New England Patriots' Drake Maye.
On the offensive side, the Seattle Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba is our Offensive Player of the Year! He led the entire NFL with an astounding 1,793 receiving yards, etching his name in history as the second Seahawk to achieve this honor, following in the footsteps of Shaun Alexander back in 2005.
The Defensive Player of the Year award is a unanimous decision: Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns! He joins the elite company of J. J. Watt, the only other player to ever win this award unanimously. This is Garrett's second career win, and it's well-deserved after a truly historic 2025 campaign where he shattered the single-season sack record with an incredible 23 sacks. For that league-leading performance, Garrett also proudly takes home the Deacon Jones Award.
The future is bright with our Rookie of the Year winners! Tetairoa McMillan of the Carolina Panthers is the Offensive Rookie of the Year, leading all rookies with 1,014 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns. And on the defensive side, Carson Schwesinger of the Browns is your Defensive Rookie of the Year, topping the rookie class with an incredible 146 total tackles and 11 tackles for loss.
This year also saw the introduction of the inaugural Protector of the Year award, recognizing the league's premier offensive lineman. That honor goes to Joe Thuney of the Chicago Bears.
Shifting to our non-player awards, the highly coveted Coach of the Year is none other than Mike Vrabel, the head coach of the Patriots! In his debut season with New England, Vrabel orchestrated a truly historic turnaround, guiding the team to a remarkable 14–3 record after back-to-back 4–13 finishes. He's now the first head coach to inherit a team with 13 losses and secure at least 13 wins in his very first year. This marks Vrabel's second Coach of the Year win, his first coming in 2021 with the Tennessee Titans.
The ceremony also provided a glimpse into the future legends of the game with the unveiling of the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class: Drew Brees, Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, and Adam Vinatieri.
And in a developing story from late January 2026, ESPN reported that former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would not be elected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. This news has sparked considerable discussion and criticism, given Belichick's unparalleled coaching resume, which includes leading the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, in addition to two more as an assistant coach.
The 15th NFL Honors, presented by the National Football League, honored the standout players and performances of the 2025 NFL season. Hosted by Jon Hamm, the ceremony took place on February 5, 2026, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, and was broadcast on NBC and NFL Network with streaming on Peacock and NFL+.
Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams secured his first career Most Valuable Player award after leading the league with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns. Stafford edged out the New England Patriots' Drake Maye in the closest MVP vote since 2003. The Seattle Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba was named Offensive Player of the Year after leading the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards, becoming the second Seahawk to win the honor following Shaun Alexander in 2005. Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns was named Defensive Player of the Year unanimously, joining J. J. Watt, who is the only other player to achieve this feat. This marked Garrett's second career win and was recognized by a historic 2025 campaign in which he set a new single-season sack record with 23. For leading the league in sacks during the season, Garrett was also the recipient of the Deacon Jones Award.
Rookie honors went to Tetairoa McMillan of the Carolina Panthers and Carson Schwesinger of the Browns, who won Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, respectively. McMillan led all rookies with 1,014 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, while Schwesinger topped the rookie class with 146 total tackles and 11 tackles for loss. The inaugural Protector of the Year award, recognizing the league's top offensive lineman, was presented to Joe Thuney of the Chicago Bears. The top non-player award, Coach of the Year, went to Mike Vrabel, the head coach of the Patriots. In his debut season with the team, Vrabel orchestrated a historic turnaround, leading New England to a 14–3 record following back-to-back 4–13 finishes. He became the first head coach to inherit a 13-loss team and win at least 13 games in his first year. This was Vrabel's second Coach of the Year win, having previously won in 2021 with the Tennessee Titans. The ceremony also featured the unveiling of the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class: Drew Brees, Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, and Adam Vinatieri. In late January 2026, ESPN reported that former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would not be elected as a first ballot hall of famer. As a result the voters received criticism due to Belichick's coaching resume including leading the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, while winning an additional two as an assistant coach.
== List of award winners ==
== 2026 Hall of Fame class ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
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