The confetti has barely been swept off the field at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, but the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook already has posted odds on next year’s NFL MVP. And a familiar face is the favorite.
Fresh off his Super Bowl LIV MVP award following the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Patrick Mahomes is again favored to win the 2020-21 NFL MVP at The SuperBook at 4-1 odds.
Mahomes, the NFL’s MVP in 2018, opened last season as the favorite at Westgate at 4-1 odds, with Jackson (100-1) taking home the award after an impressive season leading the Baltimore Ravens to the No. 1 seed and a 14-2 regular-season record.
“Mahomes is the best quarterback and he didn’t win last year,” Ed Salmons, vice president of risk at The SuperBook told ESPN. “He’s gotta be the favorite.”
Jackson opens with the second-best odds this year at 6-1, followed by Russell Wilson at 10-1. Deshaun Watson (12-1), Dak Prescott (16-1) and Carson Wentz (16-1) round out the players with odds shorter than 20-1.
Free-agent quarterback Tom Brady has 30-1 odds, but Salmons doesn’t see his odds improving, even if he goes back to New England, noting, “Unless he goes to a team with dynamic offensive weapons, I don’t think his odds improve.”
Mitchell Trubisky (100-1) and Baker Mayfield (40-1) were two of the betting public’s favorites to win MVP last season, but face longer opening odds for the ’20-21 season.
“After we lost on Lamar Jackson this year, we came up with a rule that no QB will be higher than 100-1 at the start of the year,” Salmons said. “Otherwise, Trubisky would be higher.”
Joe Burrow, the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft is another QB with 100-1 odds, the same number as Justin Herbert. Tua Tagovailoa opened with 80-1 odds.
Are bettors really going to bet on a QB that has never played an NFL game?
“We’ve already written two tickets on Burrow at 100-1,” laughed Salmons.