The NFL season is almost upon us! If you haven’t already started placing those NFL futures bets, now is as good a time as any to get started. The NFL MVP Award is one of the most sought-after awards in the league, as it highlights one of the most important players, usually on one of the best teams for the season. We’ll take a look at the history of the award, trends to watch out for, and, of course, the best bets in this edition of 2025 NFL Best Bets: MVP.
Last year, the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen picked up his first Most Valuable Player Award. It was the 12th straight season the award was given to a quarterback, and the 17th time in the last 18 seasons. Adrian Peterson, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, is the one outlier back in 2012. LaDainian Tomlinson was the previous non-quarterback award winner in 2006.
In today’s climate, this award has turned into the best quarterback award, and despite some impressive seasons by other positions, it generally goes to a quarterback. Another thing to note is the award has gone to a quarterback on a team that’s been the #1 or #2 seed in their conference every year since Peterson won in 2012.
2025 NFL Best Bets MVP: Odds, Trends, & Past Winners
Last 10 MVP Winners
2015 Cam Newton
2016 Matt Ryan
2017 Tom Brady
2018 Patrick Mahomes
2019 Lamar Jackson
2020 Aaron Rodgers
2021 Aaron Rodgers
2022 Patrick Mahomes
2023 Lamar Jackson
2024 Josh Allen
2025 MVP Odds
Lamar Jackson +550
Joe Burrow +600
Josh Allen +600
Jayden Daniels +700
Patrick Mahomes +700
Jalen Hurts +1600
Justin Herbert +1800
Brock Purdy +2500
CJ Stroud +2500
Caleb Williams +2500
Jordan Love +2500
Jared Goff +3000
Baker Mayfield +3500
Dak Prescott +3500
Matthew Stafford +3500
Saquon Barkley +4000
Trevor Lawrence +4000
Bo Nic +5000
Drake Maye +5000
Kyler Murray +5000
Tua Tagovailoa +5000
2025 NFL Best Bets MVP: Odds, Trends, & Past Winners
Joe Burrow (+600)
Joe Burrow is the favorite I’m betting on this year. He hasn’t won the award yet, but I don’t think that hurts his case. If he can put up a stellar season and have the Bengals near the top of the AFC, the voters may look to him to give him that crowning achievement, like Josh Allen got last year.
Another thing they may look for is the MVP-type season it would take to take the team from missing the playoffs to being in top seed contention. He won’t have a reliable defense to help carry him there, and that’ll likely help him pad his stats. Burrow threw for almost 5,000 yards last season, 1,200 more yards than MVP Josh Allen. Get the wins up, and Burrow will be top of the favorite’s conversation.
CLUTCH: JOE BURROW BALLED OUT WITH THE #BENGALS SEASON ON THE LINE.
• 39 of 49
• 412 passing yards
• 4 TOUCHDOWNS
• 79% completion percentage
• 122.1 passer rating😤😤😤
LEGEND.
pic.twitter.com/8oIsB4unzU— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 29, 2024
Jalen Hurts (+1600)
When it comes to second-tier guys on the odds board, nobody catches my eye more than Jalen Hurts. Fresh off a Super Bowl win and MVP performance, Hurts has entered that list of players who deserve to win this award. As funny as it sounds, when we are looking for players on good teams, the biggest thing that goes against them is how good their team is. That also plays into our favor, as this team should be one near the top of the NFC at the end of the season.
He may have been on his way to winning the award when the team started 10-1 a few seasons ago before imploding. Last season, his passing yards were down. If he can go back to those 2023 type stats, throwing for 3,858 yards, 23 touchdowns, and rushing for another 15 touchdowns. The Eagles and Hurts should be top of the list. The Tush Push is also still allowed, a nice bonus.
🚨 best bets for all 32 #NFL teams! 🚨
I took a look at all 32 NFL teams and picked my 3 best bets for each one, here they are in alphabetical order @GamblingPodcast #BirdGang https://t.co/E4SecBWm8W
— Cody Zeeb (@Husker_Zeeb) July 7, 2025
Trevor Lawrence (+4000)
He’s a longshot for a reason, but let’s look at a possible path here. Lawrence is a good quarterback. He missed games last year but threw for over 4,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in each of the previous two seasons. He’s shown to be mobile and had five rushing touchdowns in 2022. Now, Liam Coen is his head coach after coaching up Baker Mayfield to a 4,500-yard, 41-touchdown season last year. Coen comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree, and the Jaguars have the sixth-easiest schedule in 2025.
Lawrence has the star additions of Brian Thomas Jr, who burst into the scene last year, and now Travis Hunter, whom the team traded up to draft at number two overall. If all the pieces come together and Lawrence takes this team from four wins to a top-two seed in the AFC, voters will salivate over him like they once did when he came into the league.
