Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen Replaced by Drake Maye, Russell Wilson for 2025 Pro Bowl

A pair of MVP candidates won't be participating in this year's Pro Bowl for the AFC.

The NFL announced Tuesday that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson will be replacing Josh Allen in the annual All-Star showcase, while New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye will be taking the spot of Lamar Jackson.

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was reportedly extended an invite, per 9News' Mike Klis, but he opted to address a minor injury matter and expedite his recovery:

Allen previously indicated that a wrist injury might keep him from participating in this year's Pro Bowl.

"I don't know," he told reporters Monday. "I got a little banged-up hand right now—a wrist. So, I got to talk with docs right now and figure it out. But we'll see."

He added that the injury occurred during the AFC Championship Game.

"It's brand new," he said. "It was just right at the goal line. The two-point play before halftime got crunched up a little bit. I was able to finish the game with just some swelling and stuff today."

His replacement, Wilson, threw for 2,482 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions across 11 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024, completing 63.7 percent of his passes while taking 33 sacks. He was just 6-6 as the starter (regular season and playoffs), however, as the Steelers lost five straight games to close the 2024 campaign, including a Wild Card matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore's starting quarterback, Jackson, is the presumptive favorite to win MVP but declined his Pro Bowl invitation. He's generally done so in his career, as he's been voted into the All-Star showcase four times but only participated in 2019.

He'll be replaced by Maye, who had a promising rookie season for the Patriots, throwing for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions across 13 games. He also rushed for 421 yards and two scores, and while he was just 3-9 as New England's starter, he showed the sort of upside that a team is looking for in its young franchise quarterback.