Browns’ Garrett wins Defensive Player of the Year at NFL Honors

cleveland browns defensive end miles garrett Won the second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award of his career Thursday night, this time doing so unanimously.

Garrett received the award at the start of the NFL Honors Show in San Francisco, with the hardware capping a historic season in which he recorded 23 sacks. To set an NFL single-season record..

“It doesn’t just start with me,” Garrett said. “It starts with great teammates, great organization, great coaches who have been able to put us in position. I’m grateful to every single one of my teammates who helped me get here. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”

Garrett, who also won the award in 2023, led the league with 33 tackles for loss. He became the ninth player to win multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards since they were first introduced in 1971 and the only active player to do so.

Garrett received all 50 first-place votes. texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. Finished second, and was the Packers’ edge rusher. Micah Parsons Remained in third place.

offensive player of the year

wide receiver Jackson Smith-Njigba Running back Shaun Alexander continued the dynamic start to his career by joining him 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, eighth-most in any season in NFL history. Smith-Njigba set Seahawks records in both receiving yards and receptions (119) this season.

Smith-Njigba received 14 votes for first place, more than the 49 votes of the trailing Christian McCaffrey (12) and Rams wide receiver puka nakua (Eight). hawks are chasing bijan robinson (Six), Patriots quarterback drake may (five), Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (three), Bills quarterback josh allen (A) and Cardinals tight end trey mcbride (One) also received first place votes.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Panthers wide receiver tetaroa macmillan emerged from a group of talented first year students to win the award.

McMillan, the eighth pick in the 2025 draft, led all rookies in receiving yards (1,014) and touchdown catches (seven), 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 with 1,000 receiving yards in franchise history.

McMillan received 41 votes for first place. saints quarterback tyler shaw Finished second after receiving five first-place votes, and Patriots running back traveyon henderson Finished in third place with one first place vote. legendary quarterback jackson dart (one) more Seahawks guards gray zabel (Two) 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 is 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 votes for first place. seahawks safety Nick Ammanvori Finished second with seven first-place votes and was the Falcons’ edge rusher. James Peace Jr. Finished in third place with two first place votes. falcon protection Xavier Watts Also received first place vote.

Comeback Player of the Year

McCaffrey bounced back from an injury-plagued 2024 season that limited him to just four games to win the award.

In 2025, McCaffrey’s 2,126 yards from scrimmage were behind only Robinson (2,298), and his 17 scrimmage touchdowns were behind only the Colts. jonathan taylor (20) And the lions are running behind Jahmir Gibbs (18).

McCaffrey received 31 votes for first place. Lions defensive end aidan hutchinson Finished second with nine first-place votes and the Cowboys quarterback dak prescott Finished in third place with six first place votes. jaguars quarterback trevor lawrence (two), Colts quarterback philip rivers (A) and Saints wide receiver Chris Olave (One) also got the first place vote.

coach of the year

It took just one season for Mike Vrabel to get the Patriots back to winning ways during his time as a player with New England, as he won the award for the second time.

Vrabel led the Patriots 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 – and guided New England to its first AFC East title and Super Bowl berth since 2019.

Vrabel, who received his first Coach of the Year award with the Titans in 2021, joins 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 Coen finished second with 16 first-place votes and Seahawks coach Mike McDonald finished third with eight first-place votes. Bears coach Ben Johnson (one) and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan (six) also received first-place votes.

defender of the year

The NFL’s inaugural Defender of the Year Award, given to the league’s top offensive lineman Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuni.

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 selected by a panel of former standout linemen: LaCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shawn O’Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields and Andrew Whitworth.

Other Awards:

• Commander’s Linebacker bobby wagner Walter Payton won the 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 inductee. Each team nominates a player who has had a significant positive impact on his or her community.

Wagner’s mother, Fania Mae, died in May 2009 of complications following a stroke. She was 47 years old. His charitable work honoring his legacy through financial support for stroke research and rehabilitation with the Fannie Mae Fund earned him the award.

“I can’t stay here and talk about my mother,” he said. “She is my rock and always will be, she’s the reason I’m standing here. She’s the person who believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself.”

• 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, respectively, in the voting.

• McCaffrey won the Salute to Service Award for his work in support of American service members.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.