Matthew Stafford’s 2025 regular season began with a real question as to whether he’d even be able to play, thanks to a back problem that popped up between the end of the offseason program and the launch of training camp.
It has ended with his first ever first-team All-Pro honor.
Usually, the first-team All-Pro quarterback becomes the MVP. That trend was broken last year, when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was named first-team All-Pro but Bills quarterback Josh Allen won the league MVP award.
That hadn’t happened since 1987, when 49ers quarterback Joe Montana was the first-team All-Pro but Broncos quarterback John Elway was named MVP. (49ers receiver Jerry Rice likely pulled some of Montana’s votes away.)
And to the extent that the difference in first-place votes (31 for Stafford and 18 for Maye) would suggest Stafford will be the no-brainer MVP, Jackson had 30 first-place votes last year and Allen had 18.
So it’s still possible that Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (or someone else) will win the MVP award. However, the bulk of history on this specific issue points to Stafford eventually being named NFL MVP.
Of course, there’s a far bigger prize that any football player would prefer over the regular-season MVP award: Super Bowl champion and, ideally, Super Bowl MVP.
That has happened only twice since 1999, when Rams quarterback Kurt Warner won the double MVP prizes. Three years ago, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes ended a 23-year gap between the regular-season MVP winning the Super Bowl and, for Mahomes (like Warner), the Super Bowl MVP award.
