Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye are finalists for the NFL MVP award

NFL MVP Contenders Narrowed Down

The race for the NFL MVP award has been trimmed to five candidates.

On Thursday, the league revealed that Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye, and Christian McCaffrey are vying for the title of 2025 Most Valuable Player. The winner will be announced during Super Bowl week next month.

Matthew Stafford is currently viewed as the frontrunner, having just received the MVP accolade from the Pro Football Writers of America.

The Rams quarterback recorded impressive stats this season—4,707 yards passing, 46 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions, completing 65% of his passes.

However, Drake Maye is regarded as Stafford’s most significant competitor, boasting a 72% completion rate, 4,394 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

This weekend, Stafford’s Rams and Maye’s Patriots will compete in the conference title games, both aiming for a spot in Super Bowl LX.

The league also announced other finalists for various awards on Thursday.

For Coach of the Year, contenders include Liam Cohen, Ben Johnson, Mike McDonald, Kyle Shanahan, and Mike Vrabel. In the running for Defensive Player of the Year are Will Anderson Jr., Nick Bonitto, Myles Garrett, Aiden Hutchinson, and Micah Parsons.

In the category of Offensive Player of the Year, it’s especially challenging to determine a winner. Finalists include wide receivers Puka Nacua and Jackson Smith-Njigba, along with Maye, McCaffrey, and Bijan Robinson.

Nacua has put up remarkable numbers—1,715 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns from 129 catches, plus 105 rushing yards and one touchdown from 10 attempts. Smith-Njigba, on the other hand, registered 119 receptions for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns over 17 games.