We won’t know who the NFL MVP for the 2025 season is for a few more weeks. Voting on the award has already closed, though. It has been decided, we just do not know for whom.
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Still, it is safe to say the winner will be either Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford or New England Patriots QB Drake Maye. And we also know who the greatest Patriot of all time thinks should win.
Tom Brady had his say on the MVP race a week ago after calling his final regular-season game of the 2025 campaign for Fox. While Brady clearly has love for the organization he spent two decades with, he has tried to remain honest and objective in his new role as a broadcaster. With that in mind, he did not go with the homer pick here.
“Look, I don’t get a vote. I think what Matthew Stafford has done this season has been absolutely remarkable. Forty six touchdowns, for any quarterback, that’s a dream season. He’s been spectacular,” Brady said, adding,
“Drake Maye, on the other side, has done some incredible things with Josh McDaniels in their first season together. Drake’s got a long career ahead. I’m sure he’s going to have many opportunities. I’m going to say Matthew Stafford.”
And that last caveat is part of the (but not the whole) reason why Stafford is likely going to win this year, even if most don’t like to admit it. Stafford is in his late 30s, he has paid his dues, and he is unlikely to have another chance like this. Maye, meanwhile, looks like he will be involved in many more MVP races before his career is all said and done.
Despite the fact that Brady is admittedly going with the majority on this MVP question, some Boston fans find it unacceptable not to choose Maye. Fervent and often off-puttingly passionate Boston sports fan Dave Portnoy, founder of Boston Barstool Sports, was not impressed with Brady’s pick either.
“They were saying Brady said Stafford should get it. I heard that walking in here, and that bothers me. I feel like Brady should always be rooting for the Patriots guy,” Portnoy said on Beyond Bakemass with Maye’s wife, Ann Michael Maye.
“In fact, do you see this shirt? ‘Drake Brady’ (points to his shirt). It’s kind of like from one to the other. But I don’t know if I’m gonna keep that shirt if he’s picking Stafford, sticking up for the old guys,” Portnoy added.
Surprisingly, Portnoy wasn’t as aggressive as he usually is when discussing a slight against one of his teams. But as he said, he is less focused on the MVP race and more focused on the playoffs right now, which might have contributed to his leniency.
Brady really owes the Patriots nothing anyway: after a two-decade career that included six Super Bowls, his divorce with the Pats was less than amicable in 2020. Not to mention he’s probably right on this MVP debate: Odds had Stafford as a -175 odds favorite when the MVP books closed. Drake Maye was right there, however, hovering at +140 odds.
And Brady is not alone, and it makes sense that he’s not. While Maye may have won a division and 14 games, that’s really all that he has on Stafford. The veteran put up much greater numbers during this campaign with a much more difficult schedule.
Stafford’s 46 TDs tell a tale: only seven other players have ever thrown 46+ TDs in a season, and six of them won MVP. The only one who didn’t win was Drew Brees in 2011, but only because Aaron Rodgers had gone 15-1 that season and thrown 45 of his own. The last time a QB won the MVP without winning their division was also more recent than you think: Peyton Manning in 2008.
The NFL MVP will be announced at NFL Honors on February 5, 2026.
