2026 NFL Honors: Who won the league’s biggest awards?

before this Seattle Seahawks And new England Patriots While the NFL’s best players will meet at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for Super Bowl LX (Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET, NBC), the NFL’s best players will gather at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts for Thursday’s NFL Honors.

cleveland browns defensive end miles garrett Kicked off the event by winning Defensive Player of the Year. carolina panthers Detailed tetaroa macmillan Named Offensive Rookie of the Year. Chicago Bears The guard took home the inaugural Guard of the Year award. san francisco 49ers return it all Christian McCaffrey Won Comeback Player of the Year. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was given the top coach award. browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger Is the top rookie defender.

Here’s who won the award and why:

Defensive Player of the Year

miles garrett | DE | cleveland browns

The premier pass rusher of his generation, Garrett won his second DPOY award in a record-breaking season. Garrett’s 23 sacks broke the single-season record previously shared by Pro Football Hall of Famers Michael Strahan and Michael Strahan. pittsburgh steelers edge runner tj watt. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Garrett accomplished this despite being double-teamed or chipped on 39.5% of his pass rushes this season, more than any other edge rusher.

While all the focus was on pushing Garrett’s sack record, he took pride in being an all-round player; His 33 tackles for loss were the second most tackles by a player since 2000, behind JJ Watt’s 39 tackles in 2012.

“When you get so much attention every week and you’re still putting up the same numbers that he’s putting up, it’s pretty special,” Browns defensive line coach Jacques Césaire said. — Daniel Oyefusi

Offensive Rookie of the Year

tetaroa macmillan | WR | carolina panthers

Tetaroa McMillan called his rookie year average, but the Carolina wide receiver was nothing.

The eighth pick of the 2025 draft had 70 catches on 122 targets for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns, leading all rookies in receiving yards and setting a Carolina rookie record in that category.

Twenty-seven of his catches were considered explosive (16-plus yards), more than any other rookie in 2025.

He also had seven receptions on fourth down, six of which were on first down. He helped elevate the quarterback’s game bryce youngWho finally found a true No. 1 receiver in his third NFL season.

“He was special,” Young said before taking a break for the offseason. “He’s a special player.” McMillan calling himself average shows how high his expectations are.

”There’s a lot more that could have happened,” he said. ”I hold myself to a high standard, so average.” — david newton

defender of the year

Joe Thuni | जी | Chicago Bears

Thuney earned first-team All-Pro honors for the fourth consecutive season and the Bears’ revamped offensive line paid immediate dividends after being traded from Kansas City to Chicago in March 2025.

The 33-year-old left guard did not allow a sack and recorded the second-most snaps of anyone on the Bears’ offense (99.57%). quarterback Caleb Williams Chicago took 44 fewer sacks than in his rookie season largely due to improvements made to the interior of the line.

Thuney was tied for the lead among all interior offensive linemen in pass block win rate, keeping his blocks for 2.5 seconds 98% of the time.

When newbie ozzy trapillo Lost to a season-ending knee injury in the playoffs, Thuney moved to left tackle for Chicago’s divisional round matchup with the Rams. This was his second consecutive postseason start where he started at tackle.

Although not tied to his individual performances, Thuney’s contributions to each of the three teams he played for highlight his consistency over the past 10 seasons.

He won two Super Bowls with the Patriots and helped them capture the AFC East in four of five seasons (2016 to 2020). Then with the Chiefs, he won two Super Bowls and, this year, was part of the Bears’ five-to-11 win streak, a division title and a playoff victory. — Courtney Cronin

Comeback Player of the Year

Christian McCaffrey | RB | san francisco 49ers

After bilateral Achilles tendinitis and a right knee injury limited him to four games in 2024, McCaffrey returned to his normal, versatile self in 2025. This is McCaffrey’s first Comeback Player of the Year award after finishing second in 2022. He earned it based on his 2,126 scrimmage yards (second in the NFL) and 17 total touchdowns (third). Perhaps more importantly, McCaffrey started all 19 games, including the playoffs. In the regular season, he had a league-high 413 touches, 44 more than the next closest player and his highest total of nine seasons in the league.

When it was over, McCaffrey called 2025 “one of the hardest years of my life”, as he took time to recover from his knee injury in the offseason and strengthen his Achilles to face the rigors of another season. As injuries mounted, McCaffrey remained the only player in San Francisco’s offense who played a key role in helping the 49ers go 12–5 and reach the NFC Divisional Round.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said of McCaffrey, “I think it was one of the most impressive seasons any individual player has ever had.” “Just in the context of what a warrior and man he is every week. … He commits himself 24 hours a day, seven days a week to get his body ready to go out there and compete. I’ve never been around anything like that.” — nick wagner

coach of the year

Mike Vrabel | new England Patriots

Taking over a team that had won only four games the previous two seasons, Vrabel guided the Patriots to a 14–3 record in the regular season and then the Super Bowl.

The 10-game improvement tied the 1999 Colts and 2008 Dolphins for the best turnaround in NFL history. He joins George Seifert (1989 49ers) and Jim Caldwell (2009 Colts) as the only coaches to win 14 games in their first season coaching a team.

Players credited Vrabel, 50, with establishing a culture that placed a heavy emphasis on connectivity. One way to do this was to initiate the “4 H’s” in the spring, where each coach and player shared their history, heroes, heartbreak and hope in front of the team. Vrabel said he learned the idea from former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski in 2024, as Vrabel was working as a consultant on his staff that season. Players said learning more about each teammate’s story made them want to work harder for each other.

“Probably the best coach I ever had,” the wide receiver said. stefon diggsWhich is in its 11th season. “I don’t know how he does it. He asked me to buy it, I’ll tell you that.” — mike rees

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Carson Schwesinger | lb | cleveland browns

In a defense in which Garrett broke the single-season sack record, Schwesinger was hard to ignore. The No. 33 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Schwesinger led all rookies in tackles (146), tackles for loss (11), and he was third in interceptions (2). A former walk-on at UCLA, Schwesinger wore a green dot helmet, serving as the signal caller for a defense that finished the season ranked fourth in total defense.

Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said, “It’s a very difficult situation, and he’s right in the middle of it, and it’s fun to watch because not only does he do all the things well, but he has great command. He’s a great leader for us. He’s our play caller, very rarely makes a mistake. When he makes a mistake, he doesn’t make it and he’s very productive on the field.” –Daniel Oyefusi