NFL MVP 2016 Odds: Tom Brady Trails Aaron Rodgers, Other Top Contenders
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will open the NFL season on the sidelines while he serves a four-game suspension, but he’s still listed just behind the top contenders on the odds to win the NFL MVP award at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Brady, at +800 on the NFL MVP odds at the sportsbooks, is coming off another outstanding campaign in 2015, throwing for 4,770 yards with a league-leading 36 touchdowns. However, he failed in his bid for a fifth Super Bowl ring, leading the Patriots to a 20-18 loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.
The 38-year-old’s suspension finally brings last year’s Deflategate controversy to a close, but leaves the seven-time defending AFC East champs short during a tough season-opening stretch that features games against the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.
Backup Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to get the nod in Brady’s absence for the Week 1 Patriots vs. Cardinals betting matchup at University of Phoenix Stadium, a big test for the 24-year-old out of Eastern Illinois who completed just one pass for New England last season.
Despite Brady’s suspension, the Patriots remain atop the Super Bowl odds as +600 favorites.
Brady is trailed on the latest NFL MVP betting lines by teammate Rob Gronkowski, who sports +1500 odds. Gronkowski racked up 1,176 receiving yards a year ago, along with an impressive 565 yards after the catch, and was among the league leaders with 11 touchdown receptions, earning him Pro Bowl honors for the fourth time in the past five years.
Meanwhile, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is listed as the favorite to emerge as the 2016 NFL MVP, pegged as +350 chalk at the sportsbooks.
Rodgers led the Packers to a disappointing 2015 campaign, failing to claim the NFC North crown for the first time in five years before bowing out to the Cardinals in the second round of the playoffs. However, the 32-year-old still impressed, throwing for 3,821 yards with 31 TDs.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player, rounds out the front of the MVP odds pack, joined by Super Bowl 50 hero Von Miller and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger at +500.
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, Arizona Cardinals QB Carson Palmer and Seattle Seahawks pivot Russell Wilson sit alongside Brady at +800 on the NFL MVP odds.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
