It may still be June, but the 2025 NFL season will be here before we know it. Teams are getting underway with mandatory minicamp, making final preparations before training camp starts in July.
As we look ahead to the coming season, we also look ahead at who might take home some hardware at the annual NFL honors ceremony. Who will be the NFL MVP after Josh Allen took home the award last year? Who will be the league’s Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year? Who will be the best rookies on either side of the ball?
We’re taking a look at the low-hanging fruit, the most obvious candidates for awards for every team in the league this coming season.
Predicting every NFL team's most likely award winner in 2025
AFC North
Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett, EDGE: Defensive Player of the Year
The Cleveland Browns might have a couple of interesting candidates for annual awards this coming season, as low as expectations for the team may be. You could legitimately say the Browns have strong candidates for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year (Quinshon Judkins), and even Defensive Rookie of the Year (Carson Schwesinger). The lowest-hanging fruit is obviously Myles Garrett, a perennial contender for DPOY and the best player on the roster overall.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike Tomlin: Coach of the Year
The addition of Aaron Rodgers at least gives the Pittsburgh Steelers a chance to compete this season, which puts Mike Tomlin back in the spotlight for the potential NFL Coach of the Year award. Imagine the Steelers win 11 games or somehow even find a way to win their division. That would be Tomlin’s ticket to an award and it’s not all that hard to see happening. The other strong candidate in Pittsburgh has got to be TJ Watt for DPOY, although he’s dealing with a contract issue at the moment.
Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow, QB: MVP
There is no award given to the dumbest front office in the NFL, so the Bengals might have to settle for Joe Burrow contending for league MVP. Cincinnati has a DPOY candidate in Trey Hendrickson on the roster, but he might very well hold out of games at this point. It’s also possible that Ja’Marr Chase could contend for Offensive Player of the Year but Burrow is the best player on this team and should be considered the most obvious candidate to win an award.
Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson, QB: MVP
Considering Lamar Jackson could have easily won another MVP award last year, I don’t think there’s any question that he is the most obvious candidate on the Ravens to win an award this coming season. Jackson is one of the biggest cheat codes the game has ever seen. The Ravens could also have strong candidates for Coach of the Year and OPOY with John Harbaugh and Derrick Henry, but if you had to bet on someone winning an award, it’s got to be Jackson.