The season-long debate over who had done enough to earn recognition as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player was finally answered on a glitzy night in New Orleans, as Buffalo’s Josh Allen landed his first title by edging the man many expected to win, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, into second place by just four first place votes, 27-23, and by 383 total points to 362.

Although his team once again came up short of making the Super Bowl, Allen did enough through 21 weeks of football to convince voters that his individual performance was worthy of the league’s highest accolade. Putting the Bills on his back in a season that was not expected to yield as much after key receiving weapons were allowed to leave, Allen duly led Buffalo to a fifth straight AFC East crown, while throwing for 3,731 yards and 28 touchdowns, and adding a further 531 yards and 12 touchdowns with his legs. He threw only six interceptions all season.

Having already been awarded the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award at the NFL Honours ceremony on Thursday night, Allen fittingly dedicated his MVP title to his team-mates before thanking the Bills owners, GM and head coach, as well as his parents and fiancée. According to Spotrac, the quarterback is understood to have earned a $1.5m contract bonus for landing the award, but his triumph is unlikely to quell the discussion over his worthiness as MVP having only been voted to the All-Pro Second team, with Jackson getting the First team nod. Allen landing the MVP title made him the first winner since 1987 to out-point the First team nomination at QB.

Elsewhere, another nominee for the MVP crown, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, was rewarded for a stellar season toting the rock by landing the Offensive Player of the Year title. Although he didn’t threaten either Allen or Jackson in the race for MVP, Barkley has the chance to add a Super Bowl ring to the 2,000-yard season he enjoyed following his off-season move to Philadelphia. Jackson was again second in the poll, but the contest was nowhere near as close as that for MVP, with Barkley landing 35 first place votes to Jackson’s 12 and 406 total points to the Ravens QB’s 183. Ja’Marr Chase placed third without landing a single first place nod, but was only 12 points shy of overhauling Jackson on the back of a massive 25 second place votes.

Denver’s Patrick Surtain II was a convincing winner of the Defensive Player of the Year title, although his margin over Cincinnati sackmaster Trey Hendrickson was narrower than Barkley’s over Jackson. Myles Garrett edged T.J. Watt for third spot.

Despite the candidature of Raiders TE Brock Bowers, Jayden Daniels was always the favourite to land the Offensive Rookie of the Year crown, and duly accepted the honour on the back of 49 first place votes (Bowers got the remaining nod) and 495 points to his rival’s 214. Broncos QB Bo Nix placed third. Daniels also took home the trophy for Moment of the Year in recognition of his dramatic — and successful — Hail Mary heave against Chicago.

Defensive Rookie of the Year went to Rams lineman Jared Verse, who comfortably beat Eagles CB Quinyon Mitchell and L.A. team-mate Braden Fiske in the voting. Mitchell’s Eagles colleague, Cooper DeJean, was only five points shy of Fiske in fourth place.

Joe Burrow’s return from injury was enough to land the Comeback Player of the Year nod, despite his Bengals team not making the playoffs. Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins placed second, well ahead of Sam Darnold, who resurrected his career under center with the Vikings in 2024.

Minnesota did take home one award, however, as head coach Kevin O’Connell was voted the best in category after a statement season that saw the Vikings run Detroit close for the NFC North crown before having to accept the #5 seed that sent them to L.A. and eventual defeat to the Rams. Detroit’s Dan Campbell placed second to give the North a sweep of the top positions, before Chiefs HC Andy Reid denied Dan Quinn — whom many expected to have a shot at the award — to fourth, ahead of Sean Payton.

The NFC North also dominated the Assistant Coach of the Year standings, with Detroit duo Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn — who are set to lead the Bears and Jets respectively in 2025 — sandwiching Minnesota DC Brian Flores in the top three, ahead of Vic Fangio (Eagles) and Joe Brady (Bills)

Fighting off opposition from 31 other nominees, Jacksonville’s Arik Armstead took home the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year trophy, while former 49ers team-mate George Kittle received the Salute to Service Award.

The silverware earned purely on numbers put up on the field went to Barkley (Jim Brown Award for rushing leader) and Hendrickson (Deacon Jones Sack Leader Award), while Allen added to his haul with a FedEx Air and Ground Player of the Year shared with Bengals WR Chase, who became only the sixth player in the modern era to win receiving’s Triple Crown. FedEx only added wide receivers and tight ends to the list of potential nominees this season, making Chase the first of his ilk to win the award.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

AP Most Valuable Player presented by Invisalign

Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)

AP Coach of the Year

Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings)

AP Offensive Player of the Year presented by Microsoft Surface

Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles)

AP Defensive Player of the Year

Pat Surtain II (Denver Broncos)

AP Comeback Player of the Year

Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)

AP Offensive Rookie of the Year

Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders)

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year presented by TCL

Jared Verse (Los Angeles Rams)

AP Assistant Coach of the Year

Ben Johnson (Detroit Lions)

Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year presented by Nationwide

Arik Armstead (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Salute to Service Award presented by USAA

George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers)

Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award

Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)

Deacon Jones Sack Leader Award

Trey Hendrickson (Cincinnati Bengals)

Jim Brown Award

Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles)

NFL Fan of the Year presented by Captain Morgan

Megan Stefanski (Detroit Lions)

Next Gen Stats Moment of the Year powered by AWS

Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders)

FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year

Air: Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)

Ground: Ja’Mar Chase (Cincinnati Bengals)