The Jets announced the completion of two more interviews with General Manager candidates on Saturday.
They have finished their initial conversations with Commanders assistant G.M. Lance Newmark and Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown. They also announced an interview with Broncos assistant G.M. Darren Mougey earlier in the day.
Newmark joined the Commanders in 2024 after they hired Adam Peters as their new G.M. and he was previously in the Lions’ organization for 26 years, so he has recent experience in turning around a franchise.
Brown joined the Bengals in 2021. He previously worked for the Patriots, Eagles and in the AAF and XFL.
Next month, we’ll likely learn that Lamar Jackson has won the AP NFL most valuable player award for the third time in six years, and for the second straight season. You won’t have to wait any longer to know that, for 2024, Lamar is the PFT MVP.
There’s still no consensus on the meaning and context of the term. Valuable to his team? To the league? Valuable how?
But we know it when we see it. That’s what the voters hopefully did. Trust your eyes, trust your gut. Anyone and everyone can concoct an advanced statistical formula that supports Lamar or the runner-up, Josh Allen. Ultimately, it’s instinctive. And Jackson’s performance — which actually was better than last year’s MVP-winning showing — makes it obvious.
Jackson had his best season yet, with more than 4,100 passing yards and more than 900 rushing yards. That’s unprecedented. He’s also the first quarterback in league history with more than 40 touchdown passes and fewer than five interceptions. He threw for more than 1,000 yards more than he did the first time he was league MVP, in 2019.
Allen was a close second. He has had better seasons statistically, but he had some incredible single-game performances. He had a passing, rushing, and receiving touchdown (without catching a pass) in a Sunday night snow globe win over the 49ers. He had three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a shootout against the Rams. He had two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a road win over the Lions. And he ended the Chiefs’ 15-game winning streak with a 26-yard touchdown run on fourth and 2 with the game still in the balance.
Some will argue that Jackson had more help around him than Allen did. But running back James Cook rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 18 total touchdowns. And every pass that Allen completed was caught by a teammate. Lamar was still spectacular; the fact that he stood out statistically despite running back Derrick Henry rushing for nearly 2,000 yards makes Lamar’s performance even more impressive.
Others who merit a mention include Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 15 total touchdowns despite losing plenty to the tush push. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had his best season yet, even if it wasn’t good enough to get to the playoffs. And Lions quarterback Jared Goff powered the Lions to the top seed in the NFC.
In the end, it all came back to Lamar. Two years after any team could have tried to sign him to an offer sheet as a non-exclusive franchise player, he has back-to-back PFT MVP awards. In a few weeks, he’ll likely have back-to-back AP MVP awards, too.
John Mara should not read this article.
Last year, the Giants decided not to re-sign running back Saquon Barkley, sending him directly into the arms of the Eagles. Some 2,000 rushing yards and one unprecedented backward hurdle later, Barkley is the PFT offensive player of the year.
He finished with 2,005 rushing yards, 278 receiving yards, and 15 total touchdowns. But for the tush push, he might have had enough touchdowns to win the NFL’s MVP award.
As it stands, Barkley had the finest offensive performance of any player in 2024. But he was closely followed by Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who won the receiving triple crown with 127 catches for 1,708 yards and 17 receiving touchdowns. Chase averaged 100 yards and one touchdown, each and every game.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has the inside track to the AP MVP award, became the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 800. He’s also the first player with more than 40 touchdown passes and fewer than five interceptions. He had a league-high passer rating of 119.6.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 4,918 yards, and 43 touchdown passes. He was the league leader in both categories.
Ravens running back Derrick Henry had 1,921 rushing yards and 18 total touchdowns in his first season in Baltimore.
The defensive player of the year often is a guy who gets a lot of sacks or a lot of interceptions. Broncos Patrick Surtain II did neither. He was still the finest defensive player in the NFL for the 2024 season.
And so Surtain is the PFT 2024 NFL defensive player of the year.
He had four interceptions for the season, including a 100-yard pick six. He had 11 passes defensed, made 45 tackles, forced a fumble, and recovered one.
His best work came against the best opposition he faced. As recently noted by the team’s official website, Surtain was targeted 16 times on 92 routes and allowed six catches for 56 yards, no touchdowns, and an 8.3 passer rating when covering five Pro Bowlers: Ravens receiver Zay Flowers, Browns receiver Jerry Jeudy, Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and Raiders tight end Brock Bowers. He also had two interceptions while locking down that quintet of high-end pass-catchers.
The son of former Pro Bowl (and one-time first-team All-Pro) cornerback Patrick Surtain, the son is doing justice to his given name, and then some.
Others meriting consideration, and a mention here, are Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (14.0 sacks and an NFL-best 22 tackles for loss), Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (17.5 sacks, most in the NFL), Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (151 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks), and Texans cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr. (five interceptions), and Lions safety Kerby Joseph (nine interceptions, most in the NFL).
One of the biggest questions of the 2024 regular season possibly has been answered.
If the MVP race did indeed come down to Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the winner is Lamar.
The evidence comes from the All-Pro voting. Jackson received 30 first-place votes. Allen received 18. (The final two went to Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.)
The MVP vote, like all individual awards, goes five players deep. A first-place vote is worth 10 points. A second-place vote gets 5 points. A third-place vote results in three, a fourth-place vote counts for two, and a fifth-place vote triggers one point.
And so Jackson will get more first-place votes than Allen. Which means Jackson likely will win.
It’s possible, in theory, that Eagles running back Saquon Barkley outpolled them both. However, since he didn’t set the single-season rushing record, that’s likely a long shot.
And so it’s apparently Lamar Jackson. For the second straight year and the third time in six seasons.
