Why Pro Bowl has lost its luster … and what NFL can do to revive it

This article originally appeared Jan. 2, 2025 and has been updated since.

The Pro Bowl has a credibility problem. Don’t believe me? Players are openly mocking it.

“No hate but the Pro Bowl a joke lol,” Giants offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemenor posted on X. “[Andrew Thomas] Top LT in the NFL hasn’t made one yet but if you’re popular you get in. Laughable at this point.”

Former linebacker Shawne Merriman, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, posted that “The Pro Bowl use to be a badge of honor and respected. Things have changed.”

Merriman denied his post was about any one player, but Eluemenor insinuated his was, naming better replacement options for the latest sham selection in what’s become a sham event. Shedeur Sanders is headed to the Pro Bowl as a replacement selection.

Let me put it in bold type and get it out of the way right now, so that I can make it as clear as possible. This is not a shot at Shedeur Sanders. I’m not mad at Shedeur Sanders. This is not Shedeur Sanders’ fault, and he has already taken far too much grief from far too many people for things that aren’t his fault. I’m just a writer wanting better for the NFL, its players and its fans.

Whew, now that that’s out of the way, we can all agree Sanders was not a Pro Bowl-caliber performer this season. Exactly two players who had at least 75 dropbacks — undrafted rookies Brady Cook and Max Brosmer — had a worse touchdown-to-interception ratio than Sanders’ seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Sanders’ expected points added per play was only better than Jake Browning, Cook and Brosmer. Among those better, for the record, were …

Again, this is not a shot at Sanders. He was a fifth-round rookie placed behind an awful offensive line with one of the NFL’s worst receiving corps. In many spots, he performed admirably given the situation.

That doesn’t mean he’s a Pro Bowler — even a replacement Pro Bowler.

Speaking of replacement Pro Bowlers, last year’s replacements list was nearly as long as the initial roster, and this year’s will surely get there. Many of those replacements went for legitimate, well-deserved reasons. The Chiefs and Eagles — last year’s Super Bowl participants — combined for 11 Pro Bowl selections, so that makes sense. Many other selections were dealing with the bumps and bruises of a long season, and who am I to judge how someone else’s body feels after several brutal months? If a week at the Pro Bowl — excuse me, the Pro Bowl Games for you keeping track at home — isn’t how players want to spend their offseason, so be it. If it is, great! More power to them. Thank you, sincerely, for showing up.

Where we run into issues is the replacements themselves. Last year, Russell Wilson and Drake Maye were named replacements for Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Both Allen and Jackson are dealing with minor injuries. Again, totally fine. Heal up and be ready for the games that actually matter. But the fact that so many players opt out of the “Games,” which are really a bunch of skill competitions — including video games — followed by flag football, shows the event has lost its luster. The fact that Maye and Wilson were replacements show it’s lost its credibility, too.

Maye and Wilson ranked 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in expected points added per dropback, an all-encompassing stat that takes into account situation and sacks/rushing, two things passer rating can’t do. It’s not perfect, but it provides a pretty good picture.

Here are some players who were ahead of Maye and Wilson this year: Aidan O’Connell, Kirk Cousins and Joe Flacco. Somehow, Justin Herbert, who finished 10th in EPA per dropback, was passed over as a replacement in favor of Maye and Wilson. Maye did an encouraging job in one of the league’s worst offensive ecosystems, but let’s be real here. In no world was he better than Herbert. You can say Wilson had a nice bounceback year and made the playoffs, but many numbers show he was a below-average quarterback. Including the blowout playoff loss to the Ravens, Wilson went 6-6 as a starter. That doesn’t exactly scream out “top-five AFC quarterback.”

Lest you think I’m just picking on Sanders, Maye and Wilson, you should know the Pro Bowl has been losing credibility for some time. In 2012, Jeff Saturday, in his final season, made the Pro Bowl despite being benched by his own actual team, the Packers. It’s now best remembered for Saturday switching teams and snapping to his longtime quarterback, Peyton Manning, one final time.

In 2022, Tyler Huntley made the Pro Bowl as an alternate after starting four games … and not even playing well in them. There’s little clarity in how alternates to the alternates are selected, though Yahoo Sports reported that alternate voting is done by the players themselves, unlike regular voting, which is done by fans, coaches and players. That leads to popularity winning out over merit. Oh, and the only reason Huntley was needed was because Allen decided to play golf instead of go to the Pro Bowl.

These instances go way back. In 2010, Terrell Suggs voted for Ryan Fitzpatrick to make the Pro Bowl over league MVP Tom Brady.

If the Pro Bowl/Pro Bowl Games don’t want to be taken seriously, that’s fine. Players have made it known it’s not worth their time. Many of the league’s players — and especially its biggest stars — take several weeks away from football after their season ends. The NBA’s All-Star Weekend, which is during the season, also struggles with making its festivities meaningful, but at least in the NBA, players don’t drop out (unless seriously injured). One can always quibble with a selection here or there, but’s hard to find truly undeserving NBA All-Stars.

If the NFL’s event itself isn’t serious and the replacement process is even less serious, we need to stop treating it as such. Maybe, colloquially, we don’t take it seriously, but “Pro Bowls” is one of the first things — and, in many cases, the first thing — on Pro Football Hall of Famers’ profiles on the official website. Mike Sando of The Athletic is a Hall of Fame voter and an AP awards voter. He put it perfectly in early January.

Basically, it all boils down to this: The Pro Bowl is at once meaningless (players skip all the time, the selection process produces questionable results, and the festivities themselves aren’t even football) and extremely meaningful (it’s part of Hall of Fame selection).

Discounting players who make the Pro Bowl legitimately hurts their legacy, but counting them the same as replacements does, too. Eliminating the “Pro Bowl” designation as a whole feels too extreme the other way. There are only two All-Pro teams, after all. Do only the two best players at a position deserve end-of-season recognition? That’s awfully harsh.

So, what’s to be done? Somewhat hilariously, Article 38, Section 6(b) of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement says …

“In any League Year, the NFL may elect, in its sole discretion, not to hold a Pro Bowl game. In such a case, the NFL shall replace the Pro Bowl game with another event (e.g., without limitation, an honors ceremony or NFL press release) that recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding NFL players, provided that the NFL will consult with the NFLPA prior to making its determination.”

The NFL would never pass up the publicity and money of bringing league stars (and, as you saw above, non-stars) together for a weekend, even if the product is lacking. Heck, getting Sanders to the Pro Bowl Games is probably the best outcome, business-wise, the NFL could have possibly hoped for. 

It’s even harder to envision a return to the Pro Bowl of yesteryear, with pads and effort. And while the replacement process is severely flawed and hurts the event’s legitimacy, I doubt the NFL would have told Joe Burrow last year “Sorry Joe, you’re the only one who didn’t opt out, so you have to play the whole game.”

The NFL can’t make players care, and the NFL won’t do away with the event entirely. Designating between initial selections and replacement selections, as Sando suggested, would be a start. Positional awards like college football‘s would also help quantify players’ excellent seasons. De’Von Achane had over 1,800 yards from scrimmage and led the NFL with 5.7 yards per carry. His end-of-season honors won’t include MVP, Offensive Player of the Year or an All-Pro team. But should his list of accomplishments from this year really only match Sanders’? A third-place finish in hypothetical “Barry Sanders Running Back of the Year” voting would be a nice compromise. MLB awards positional Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers. The NBA has three All-NBA teams and places fewer positional limits on selections. The point is, solutions abound.

When you’re watching football players play dodgeball or video games — and simultaneously realizing how many bypassed attending an NFL “honor” for some simple R&R — know that the NFL can and should be doing better by its players and its fans.