NFL MVP, Award Winners to Have Gold Shield Uniform Patch During 2025 Regular Season

The NFL plans to celebrate Associated Press awards by having winners wear a special patch on their uniforms the following season, Alaina Getzenberg reported Tuesday for ESPN.

This practice will start in 2025, when Buffalo Bills quarterback and reigning MVP Josh Allen is set to wear a gold version of the traditional NFL shield on his uniform collar throughout the 2025 regular season and playoffs, per Getzenberg.

Other players who will wear the gold NFL logo next season are Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley, Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II, Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels and Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse, Getzenberg reported.

This marks the first time the NFL has changed the color of the shield for award winners. The league plans to continue doing so in the future, Getzenberg reported.

The gold version of the NFL shield is inspired by the logo for the league's annual awards show, the NFL Honors, according to Getzenberg.

The NFL has been giving out patches in honor of Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award winners since 2017. Players who claim the award wear the patch for the remainder of their careers.

The new award patches come after MLB introduced gold logo patches for six award winners ahead of the 2025 season. Those patches were worn by MVPs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, Cy Young winners Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal and Rookies of the Year Paul Skenes and Luis Gil.

Ohtani was the first player to debut MLB's gold patch when he helped the Los Angeles Dodgers open the season in Tokyo.

According to MLB, 10 game-worn patches from each of the six award winners are set to be added to Topps trading cards after the 2025 season.

In the NFL, it will be Barkley who is the first to don the gold logo patch when he and the Philadelphia Eagles open the 2025 regular season on Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Eagles are set to raise their Super Bowl championship banner ahead of Thursday night's 8:20 p.m. ET kick-off at Lincoln Financial.