While he is still chasing his first trip to the Super Bowl, Josh Allen can check another item off his career to-do list. The Buffalo Bills’ quarterback has been tabbed as the NFL MVP, edging out fellow quarterback Lamar Jackson and Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.
Allen received 383 votes to just beat out Jackson, who received 362 votes in the closest MVP vote since 2003, when Peyton Manning and Steve McNair shared the honor. Allen is the first MVP since Manning in 2008 to not have a single All-Pro teammate, according to CBS Sports Research.
Allen, 28, is the third Bills player to win league MVP, joining Hall of Fame running backs Thurman Thomas (1991) and O.J. Simpson (1973). Bills fullback Cookie Gilchrist (1962) and quarterback Jack Kemp (1965) won league MVP honors during Buffalo’s years in the AFL, which merged with the NFL after the 1969 season.
Allen is certainly deserving of the award. This year, Allen led Buffalo to a fifth consecutive AFC East division crown despite playing with a revamped receiving corps. He threw 28 touchdowns while tossing a career-low six interceptions. Allen also ran for 12 touchdowns while becoming the first player in NFL history with consecutive seasons with at least 25 touchdown passes and 12 touchdown runs.
Allen is now only one of four active players who has won league MVP, a list that also incudes Jackson (who won the award in 2019 and 2023), Patrick Mahomes (2018 and 2022) and Aaron Rodgers (2011, 2014, 2020, 2021).
Allen, who won two playoff games this year before losing to the Chiefs in the 2024 AFC title game, is surely hoping to join the shortlist of active quarterbacks that have won Super Bowls in 2025, a list that currently consists of Mahomes, Rodgers and Russell Wilson.
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