The 2024 season is here. The Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs get things started tonight, followed by a Friday night matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles.

With no time to waste, let’s look at The Athletic’s NFL staff picks for MVP, Super Bowl champion and more.

Forty-two staff members responded (some opting not to answer everything, so there aren’t always 42 responses). Here’s what they think.

Patrick Mahomes has already won the award twice — in 2018 and 2022 — so why not a third time while the Kansas City Chiefs try to three-peat? Our staff overwhelmingly picked the soon-to-be 29-year-old quarterback to do just that.

While quarterbacks dominated our MVP voting, they took a back seat in this category. Tyreek Hill finished fourth in the AP Offensive Player of the Year voting two seasons ago and was runner-up last season when he led the league with 1,799 receiving yards, 13 TDs and a career-best 112.4 receiving yards per game. Our staff thinks he’ll continue his dominance catching passes from Tua Tagovailoa in Mike McDaniel’s offense in Miami.

In his three NFL seasons, Micah Parsons has finished second, second and third in Defensive Player of the Year voting. His sack totals have inched up every year — 13 to 13 1/2 to 14 — and signs point to the former Penn State star linebacker breaking through in 2024. Myles Garrett won it last season after a 14-sack campaign that followed five consecutive double-digit sack seasons. Entering the season, it looks like a Parsons-Garrett battle and we’ll get to see them on the same field Sunday when the Cowboys visit the Browns.

Six quarterbacks were selected within the first 12 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft and three are among the five rookies receiving votes from our staff in this category. No. 1 pick Caleb Williams received 31 of 42 total votes. Expectations are high for the Bears’ quarterback, to say the least.

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As long as Mahomes is in Kansas City, this feels like the safest choice. The Chiefs won the past two Super Bowls, three of the past five and have played in four of the last five. Mahomes was named MVP in each of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victories. The Bengals and Texans both received four votes. Cincinnati lost the 2021 Super Bowl to the Los Angeles Rams and the Texans have not reached a conference title game since joining the league in 2002.

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The Lions made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2016 and reached the NFC Championship Game — they lost 34-31 to the 49ers — for the first time since 1991. Can Dan Campbell get Detroit to its first Super Bowl in franchise history? The Packers and 49ers won’t make it easy, according to our staff.

Surprise … it’s the Chiefs. OK, that’s not really a surprise. But that’s what happens when you win back-to-back Super Bowls and have Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones on your side. The 49ers finished with the second-most votes, fitting after they lost to the Chiefs in overtime in last season’s Super Bowl.

Kansas City occupied the three top vote-getting matchups and received votes against six different opponents. But our staff likes the Chiefs-Lions showdown most, followed by Chiefs-Packers and a Chiefs-49ers rematch. The top non-Chiefs Super Bowls? Texans vs. Eagles and Bengals vs. Lions.

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What they said

“Mike McCarthy. McCarthy has proven he can win in the regular season with three straight 12-5 seasons. But that regular-season success hasn’t translated to the playoffs. If that doesn’t change, the coach of the Cowboys will.” — Dan Duggan, Giants writer

“Nick Sirianni. When you fire and replace both of your coordinators, the pressure is now on you. It’s win or be fired yourself.” — Adam Jahns, Bears writer

“Robert Saleh. He’s entering his fourth year in New York with an 18-33 record. Saleh’s personality and perch in the league’s most high-profile city give him more cache than his results have earned. With Aaron Rodgers back from injury, Saleh and the Jets are out of excuses. If this team doesn’t make a run, there will be major changes in New York.” — Josh Kendall, Falcons writer

“Sean McDermott. He only gets so many shots with Josh Allen to prove he can get the Bills back to the Super Bowl.” — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals writer

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“Mike McCarthy: He’s got 36 regular-season wins to one playoff win over the last three seasons and is on an expiring contract with Bill Belichick as a coaching free agent. That’s a lot of pressure.” — Jeff Howe, NFL writer

“Robert Saleh. If he can’t win this season with that defense and a healthy Aaron Rodgers, he may not be long for his job.” — Adam Hirshfield, NFL editor

“Nick Sirianni. Was last season’s second-half collapse a fluke or a sign of a bigger problem? The Eagles are talented, but a slow start will turn up the volume and heat on the man in charge.” — Doug Haller, Cardinals writer

“Dave Canales. He’s the least proven head coach in the league in terms of overall track record, which means he has the most to prove. There are other coaches facing greater pressure this season, but they are much more seasoned/proven.” — Mike Sando, NFL writer

“Dennis Allen. The Saints are on the short list of middling teams that could bottom out this year as some of their top talent is getting older and a bit worse. They have issues at quarterback and may struggle on both the offensive and defensive lines. Things seem a bit stale in New Orleans, and Allen needs to prove that isn’t the case.” — Joe Buscaglia, Bills writer

What they said

“Arizona. Last year you saw the culture set, now the talent level has risen for a full season with Kyler Murray.” — Dehner

“The Falcons are in a really good place. The mood around the building with Raheem Morris is through the roof, and Kirk Cousins and OC Zac Robinson should really help the skill players shine. They’re also in a very winnable division.” — Howe

“Tennessee Titans, because after an aggressive offseason following another double-digit loss season, they will force their way into contention in the AFC South and have a shot at the playoffs.” — Mike Jones, NFL writer

“Denver Broncos. I’m a believer that the Sean Payton-Bo Nix pairing will work well. I don’t love the skill-position pieces around Nix, but it’s the first time since Payton coached Drew Brees that I can see him having full confidence in a quarterback. I could envision a second-place finish in the AFC West and a possible wild-card berth.” — Larry Holder, NFL writer

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“The Chargers — they have the talent to turn things around and they have a head coach who knows how to win.” — Dan Pompei, NFL writer

“Cardinals. I’m reaching deep for this one because anyone can say the Bears. But the Cardinals could be a sneaky team for the biggest turnaround even if they’ll still be far from a serious contender. They were more competitive than the typical 4-13 team in Jonathan Gannon’s first season as head coach. They also were 1-8 without Kyler Murray and 3-5 after he returned to the lineup. A healthy Murray combined with Marvin Harrison Jr. could turn things around fast for the Cardinals.” — Duggan

“Seattle Seahawks. Geno Smith should have a nice rebound of a season and the Seahawks defense should be much improved with more youth under new head coach Mike Macdonald. The Seahawks also have a very favorable schedule, which should allow them to make a run to make the playoffs.” — Nate Taylor, Chiefs writer

“Falcons. Atlanta gets a new coach with a strong defensive pedigree and leadership skills in Raheem Morris, and a proven quarterback in Kirk Cousins to pair with ascending playmakers Bijan Robinson and Drake London. It also helps that the Falcons play in the NFC South.” — Joe Person, Panthers writer

“Washington. The Commanders only won four games last year. I think they could double that win total and maybe compete for the NFC East title if things go poorly for the Eagles and Cowboys. Dan Quinn ends up improving the defense and Jayden Daniels shows they have a franchise QB.” — Jon Machota, Cowboys writer

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Todd Rosenberg, Cooper Neill, Kara Durrette / Getty Images)

According to U.S. Dept. of Education figures, UCLA topped all Big Ten schools by receiving $692 million in donations from 2022-23.

But that zeal for lavishing cash did not carry over to the school’s athletic department, which ranked fourth from the bottom of the conference with just $16 million in donations over the same period.

Like a quarterback calling an audible, Chase Griffin wants to change those financial fortunes for his Bruins teammates.

“Our No. 1 goal,” said the backup quarterback who has long been a star in the name, image and likeness space, “is to make UCLA football the best team in the Big Ten.”

Griffin unveiled his plans for the transformation Thursday night at the W Hotel near campus when he launched the 1919 Players Fund before a group of partners in the venture and roughly half the football team.

The player-run NIL fund, whose name is a nod to the year the school was founded, aims to help the Bruins build their personal brands as ambassadors for products and services while also giving back through philanthropy.

Is it a collective? Well, yes and no.

“People can call it what they want,” Griffin said. “I see it more as a content studio, I see us almost as a talent agency where we develop UCLA football players and we give them the means of creating content that creates returns on investment with the brands that we work with.”

Early partners include the investment advisory firm SteelPeak Wealth, the Westwood Village Improvement Assn. and Movember, the organization centered around men’s health awareness. Griffin said he built those partnerships through the vast network of resources he forged while becoming a two-time NIL athlete of the year.

Showing his teammates the types of deals they could get with Westwood businesses, Griffin played a video showing himself biting into an ice cream cookie sandwich at Diddy Riese and a slice of cheese pizza at Danny Boy’s Famous Original Pizza.

Asked if the 1919 Players Fund dovetailed with Men of Westwood, UCLA’s school-sponsored collective, Griffin suggested that he favored a partnership over a rivalry.

“If they have content that needs to be executed, let us know,” Griffin said. “We’re hungry for opportunities, our players are showing that by coming here on a Thursday night that we had off and we have the ability to create any content and create return on investment for any brand.”

Among the speakers was former UCLA safety James Washington, a two-time Rose Bowl and two-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys who emphasized the importance of building wealth beyond a possible NFL career.

“Out of my class,” Washington said, “dudes that didn’t play on Sunday — I got three billionaires, 10 millionaires that I’m trying to figure out how to get them back here for you, you see what I’m saying? So when you look around, the endgame is just not playing football, the endgame is running your own business … it’s giving back to your community, it’s reaching down and grabbing the next one to lift the next one up.”

Griffin mentioned UCLA’s standing as the nation’s top public school and long history of trailblazers in athletics as reasons the school should lead the way in NIL endeavors. Underscoring the need for everyone in the UCLA community to contribute, Griffin encouraged fans to email him directly at chase@thegriffin.org.

“We’re not in a conference where we’re lucky to be there,” Griffin said, “we’re in a conference where they’re lucky to have us, and in order for us to compete in the way that we need to compete to make that statement ring true and to represent UCLA the way it ought to be represented, we have to make sure that we have programs in place like the 1919 Players Fund there to make sure that UCLA has a chance.”

U.S. Women’s National Team and San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan announced she will be retiring as she and her husband Servando Carrasco are expecting their second child. Morgan, 35, will play one final game for the San Diego Wave on Sunday against the North Carolina Courage at home, she announced in a video posted to her social media Thursday.

“I have so much clarity about this decision, and I’m so happy to be able to finally tell you,” Morgan said. “It has been a long time coming and this decision wasn’t easy. At the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season that I would play soccer.

“Soccer was a part of me for 30 years, and it was one of the first things that I ever loved. I gave everything to this sport, and what I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of.”

Thank you🫶 pic.twitter.com/8BkofVOh3s

— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) September 5, 2024

Morgan played her final game with the USWNT in June before the Olympics, a 3-0 win over South Korea in Minnesota. Coach Emma Hayes made plenty of headlines for leaving her off the Olympic squad, and Morgan remained with the Wave during the summer.

Morgan has been with the Wave since 2022, having previously played for the Orlando Pride and Portland Thorns FC in the NWSL, along with international stints in Lyon in 2017 and with Tottenham during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She will retire a two-time World Cup winner with the USWNT in 2015 and 2019 and a two-time Olympic medalist (gold in 2012 and bronze in 2021). In her 224 USWNT appearances, she scored 123 goals — leaving her ninth on the all-time list for team appearances, and fifth for most goals scored in the program’s history.

Morgan first broke through with the United States U-20 team in 2008, when she was early in her collegiate career at the University of California, Berkeley. She debuted for the senior national team in 2010, picking up her first cap on March 31, 2010, against Mexico.

Morgan was the youngest member of the 2011 World Cup squad at age 22, scoring her first goal in the hallowed competition in a 3-1 semifinal victory before opening the scoring in the final against Japan. The showing made her undroppable for the USWNT for over a decade, as she became a natural heir to Abby Wambach at striker. Morgan also began her club career that year, kicking off a long-nomadic saga with the Western New York Flash, playing for five teams between 2011 and 2017.

Regardless of her club situation, Morgan remained consistent with the national team. She became the face of the program, winning the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year in 2012 and landing on the FIFA World Player of the Year shortlist that year. In terms of individual honors, she will retire as a four-time CONCACAF Player of the Year, a six-time member of the FIFPro Women’s World 11, the 2022 NWSL Golden Boot winner and a member of the USWNT All-Time Best XI in 2013.

“I grew up on this team, it was so much more than soccer,” Morgan said in U.S. Soccer’s official release about her retirement. “It was the friendships and the unwavering respect and support among each other, the relentless push for global investment in women’s sports, and the pivotal moments of success both on and off the field. I am so incredibly honored to have borrowed the crest for more than 15 years. I learned so much about myself in that time and so much of that is a credit to my teammates and our fans.

“I feel immense pride in where this team is headed, and I will forever be a fan of the USWNT. My desire for success may have always driven me, but what I got in return was more than I could have ever asked and hoped for.”

Baby Horse.
AM13.
Alex Morgan.#ThankYouAlex pic.twitter.com/d4o95QfsTe

— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 5, 2024

Morgan also contributed massively off the field, leading the USWNT players’ fight for equal pay — she was one of the five players who put their names to the first Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint that kicked off the long battle in 2016 before the team sued U.S. Soccer in 2019.

As important as that fight was, she built a legacy off the field in the NWSL as well, serving as a key witness for Mana Shim, and then Sinead Farrelly, as they went on record with The Athletic in 2019 to share their stories of abuse they had suffered in the NWSL. Morgan, in addition to going on record, was a key figure behind the scenes in pushing the league to add protections for players against harassment and other abuses of power.

She also posted emails between Shim, Farrelly and then-commissioner Lisa Baird proving the league was aware that the two players were trying to come forward with additional information. “If we don’t absolutely claw and fight for ourselves, we’ve seen that we’re not going to get anything,” Morgan told The Athletic in 2021.

Morgan has always been willing to enter that fight, and with her retirement announcement Thursday, has left the game better for it.

Required reading

(Photo: C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)