A snub is in the eye of the beholder.

Now that the 2025 Pro Bowl Games rosters have been announced, discussion and debate about players from both conferences will abound. Some will be aghast at an omission from the Games. Others will take solace that a particular player or two finally garnered deserved attention. Everyone has their own list — it’s only natural.

With 88 total spots broken up between two conferences and each position being capped, it’s impossible for every worthy player to be honored. There is a zero percent chance of everyone having the same 88 names. That’s why “snub” lists like this exist.

In undertaking this endeavor yet again, I personally am less offended by players left off. Instead, I’d like to use this opportunity to highlight those men who have had outstanding years and might have just missed the cut. Some on my list will be outliers to a greater degree than others. The game of “who would you replace” is wholly unfair to the talented players who did have their names on the initial rosters. It’s also not necessary. This is an all-star event for fun, not a cabinet position — and a swath of players on the initial roster will be replaced, some due to making the Super Bowl, others because of injuries or for other reasons.

Before I get to my list, know that there is one name you won’t see below, and you can consider him a snubbed snub, if you must: Patrick Mahomes.

The quarterback of the No. 1-seeded Chiefs has basically been a shoo-in for the Pro Bowl, earning a nod in every season since becoming the team’s starter in 2018. Given Mahomes’ standing as the back-to-back Super Bowl MVP guiding Kansas City to a 15-1 record, you could easily make a case for him to be a Pro Bowler again in 2025. Yet, by all standards outside of the win column — which surely Mahomes would say is all he cares about — this has been a down year for the all-world talent.

With Mahomes set to sit out a Week 18 contest against the Broncos that is meaningless to the Chiefs, he will have set career lows (going back to 2018) in passing yards (3,928), success rate (50.7%, per Pro Football Reference), yards per attempt (6.8) and yards per game (245.5) while tying for his lowest mark in TD passes (26). For most QBs, those numbers would be fine, if not excellent. For Mahomes, they’re just OK. It makes his ability to deliver clutch plays in the crucible of big moments all the more impressive.

Mahomes’ omission also speaks to the insane level at which Josh Allen, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson are currently playing. Allen is leading a juggernaut Bills offense with both his arm and legs. He’s creating fewer negative plays (taking just 14 total sacks so far) than ever. Burrow leads pretty much every statistical category and would probably be the MVP if not for the sieve-like defense holding Cincinnati back. And Jackson is having a better season than he did in 2023, when earned his second career MVP.

I wouldn’t detest anyone who insists that leaving off the QB of a 15-1 club is a snub; Mahomes simply didn’t make my list this season.