NFL Honors 2026: nominees, what’s being announced tonight, and the awards already decided

NFL Honors returns Thursday, February 5, 2026 (ET), bringing the league’s biggest individual awards for the 2025 season to a single prime-time stage in San Francisco. The ceremony is set at the Palace of Fine Arts, hosted by Jon Hamm, and it’s the final major spotlight moment before Super Bowl Sunday.

This year’s show has an unusual twist: several headline awards were revealed earlier in the day, leaving MVP as the centerpiece still pending as the ceremony begins.

When NFL Honors starts and what to expect on the run of show

The televised ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 5, 2026. Beyond the AP awards, the show is also expected to include major league recognitions such as the Walter Payton Man of the Year announcement and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 reveal.

The MVP race: five finalists, one trophy still unanswered

The Most Valuable Player finalists are:

• Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)

• Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)

• Drake Maye (New England Patriots)

• Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco 49ers)

• Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)

The vote was cast before the playoffs, so postseason performances won’t change the outcome. The debate is familiar: quarterbacks typically dominate MVP voting, while a truly dominant non-quarterback season can break through when it feels uniquely central to a team’s identity.

Awards already announced ahead of the ceremony

Several AP honors have already been made public, including a unanimous defensive winner and a comeback story that doubled as an MVP finalist. Here’s the status snapshot heading into the live show:

Rookie spotlight: the DROY finalists and the fan-voted wrinkle

While Offensive Rookie of the Year has already been awarded to Tetairoa McMillan, there’s still a major rookie honor to settle live: Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Finalists:

• Abdul Carter (New York Giants)

• Nick Emmanwori (Seattle Seahawks)

• James Pearce Jr. (Atlanta Falcons)

• Carson Schwesinger (Cleveland Browns)

• Xavier Watts (Atlanta Falcons)

A separate, fan-voted “Rookie of the Year” award also made news this week, but it does not determine the AP results. Tonight’s announcement is the one that becomes the definitive record in most historical contexts.

Hall of Fame and the off-field awards to watch

Beyond performance trophies, NFL Honors typically carries two announcements that can rival MVP in emotional weight:

• Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026: a career-capping moment, often the segment that defines the night for fans and families.

• Walter Payton Man of the Year: the league’s top community and philanthropy honor, frequently the most powerful acceptance on the program.

Together, those two segments help frame NFL Honors as more than stat sheets—part legacy, part leadership, part culture.

The bottom line heading into the live reveals

With Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Assistant Coach already decided, MVP becomes the gravitational center of the night. The remaining live awards—MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, and Defensive Rookie of the Year—will round out the league’s official regular-season story just days before the Super Bowl closes the year.

Sources consulted: NFL, Associated Press, Pro Football Hall of Fame, ESPN