The NFL Honors ceremony in San Francisco on Thursday night opened with Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett winning his second career Defensive Player of the Year award in a unanimous selection.
Garrett capped a historic season in which he recorded 23 sacks to set the NFL’s single-season sack record. Garrett, who also won the award in 2023, led the league with 33 tackles for loss.
Garrett received all 50 first-place votes. Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. finished second, and Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons finished third.
Offensive Player of the Year
Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba continued the dynamic start to his career by joining running back Shaun Alexander as the only Seahawks players to win the award.
In his third season, Smith-Njigba led the NFL with a career-high 1,793 receiving yards; that is the eighth most in any season in NFL history. Smith-Njigba set Seahawks records this season in both receiving yards and receptions (119).
Smith-Njigba received 14 first-place votes, outlasting 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (12) and Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (8). Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (6), Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (5), Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (3), Bills quarterback Josh Allen (1) and Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (1) also received first-place votes.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan emerged from a talented group of first-year standouts to win the award.
McMillan, the eighth pick in the 2025 draft, led all rookies in receiving yards (1,014) and touchdown catches (7), and his 70 receptions were third among first-year players. He broke Kelvin Benjamin’s single-season Panthers rookie receiving record and joined him as the only rookies in franchise history to have 1,000 receiving yards.
McMillan received 41 first-place votes. New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough finished second, receiving five first-place votes, and Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson finished third with one first-place vote. New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (1) and Seahawks guard Grey Zabel (2) also received first-place votes.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Four years ago, Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger was a walk-on at UCLA. Now, he’s the NFL’s top rookie defender.
Schwesinger, the 33rd pick, led all rookies with 157 tackles and 11 tackles for loss. He also added 2.5 sacks and two interceptions.
Schwesinger received 40 first-place votes. Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori finished second with seven first-place votes and Falcons edge rusher James Peace Jr. finished third with two first-place votes. Falcons safety Xavier Watts also received a first-place vote.
Comeback Player of the Year
McCaffrey bounced back from an injury-plagued season in 2024 that limited him to just four games to win the award.
In 2025, McCaffrey’s 2,126 yards from scrimmage only trailed Robinson (2,298), and his 17 scrimmage touchdowns were only behind Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (20) and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (18).
McCaffrey received 31 first-place votes. Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson finished second with nine first-place votes and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott finished third with six first-place votes. Lawrence (2), Colts quarterback Phillip Rivers (1) and Saints wide receiver Chris Olave also received a first-place vote.
Coach of the Year
It took Mike Vrabel just one season to return the Patriots to the winning ways he experienced during his time as a former player with New England, as he won the award for the second time.
Vrabel led the Patriots’ turnaround from 4-13 to 14-3 — tying George Seifert (1989 49ers) and Jim Caldwell (2009 Colts) for the most wins by a head coach in his first season with a team in NFL history — as well as New England’s first AFC East title since 2019 and a Super Bowl berth.
Vrabel, who received his first COTY award with the Titans in 2021, joined Bill Belichick (2003, 2007, 2010) and Bill Parcells (1994) as Patriots coaches to win the award.
Vrabel received 19 first-place votes, while Jaguars coach Liam Cohen finished second with 16 first-place votes and Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald finished third with eight first-place votes. Bears coach Ben Johnson (1) and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan (6) also received first-place votes.
Protector of the Year
The NFL’s inaugural Protector of the Year award, given to the league’s top offensive linemen, went to Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney.
Thuney led all qualifying guards in ESPN’s pass block win rate metric (97.6%) and ranked third out of 62 qualifying guards in run block win rate.
The award was chosen by a panel of former standout linemen: LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shaun O’Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields and Andrew Whitworth.
Other awards:
• Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award, which recognizes a player for excellence on and off the field. The award was established in 1970 and renamed in 1999 after the late Hall of Fame running back. Each team nominates one player who has had a significant positive impact on his community.
• Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was named Assistant Coach of the Year. Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores finished second and third in voting, respectively.
• McCaffrey won the Salute to Service award for his work supporting U.S. service members.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
