On Thursday night, second-year quarterback Drake Maye lost the 2025 NFL MVP Award to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Maye was not in person at NFL Honors to watch Stafford win the award, as he continues preparations for Super Bowl LX against the Seahawks (14-3) on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team posted on X that Maye lost out on winning the award by one vote. The results were as follows: Matthew Stafford with 24, Drake Maye with 23, Josh Allen with 2, Justin Herbert with 1.
While Maye’s loss on Thursday was not surprising, it can absolutely be argued that he was snubbed.
Maye finished the regular season leading the NFL in completion percentage (72.0%), yards per completion (8.9), QBR (77.2) and passer rating (113.5). He’s also third in touchdown passes (31), fourth in passing yards (4,394) and passing yards per game (258.5) and fifth in completions (354). And after dealing with turnover issues throughout his rookie season, he finished the regular season with just 8 interceptions to his name.
In addition to his passing prowess, Maye’s running game has remained a huge part of his profile, rushing for 450 yards on 103 carries, good for 4.4 yards per carry and 4 rushing touchdowns.
Stafford led the NFL in touchdown passes at 46, 12 more than Jared Goff who finished in second in that category at 34. Just like Maye, he finished the season with just 8 interceptions, having arguably his best season at 37 years old in year 17. Stafford ended the regular season as the favorite at -200 with Maye just behind him at +150.
With this loss for Maye, he finishes 2025 with just two individual honors, as he was the leading vote getter among all players for the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl, and was named the quarterback for the NFL’s All-Pro second-team behind, of course, Stafford.
Maye missed out on becoming just the fourth player in NFL history to win the award at 23 years old, where he would have joined Patrick Mahomes, Dan Marino and Walter Payton. Only two players younger than 23 years old have been awarded with football’s highest individual honor, with Jim Brown winning the award at both 21 and 22 years old, and Lamar Jackson winning the award in his age 22 season in 2019.
That group of names is as elite as it gets, and Maye just missed joining that club.
But make no mistake about it - the sky’s the limit for Maye, and him finishing as a finalist for this award is just a re-affirmation of everything we already knew about New England’s favorite adopted son.
Maye also lost out on winning the 2025 Offensive Player of the Year Award to Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
A trophy case with an MVP Award would have been pretty cool.
A trophy case with a Lombardi Trophy is way cooler.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.