In his 17 NFL seasons, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been named NFL MVP only twice. (Loser.) He’s nevertheless the odds-on favorite to win it again.
Via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, the Bovada odds for 2017 regular-season MVP show Brady as the 4-1 favorite. Next is Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers at 7-1. Newly-minted $25 million man (and Raiders quarterback) Derek Carr appears third, at 9-1.
Intriguing prospects include Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who at 50-1 may fare a lot better than that given his weapons in the passing game. Ditto for Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston, who created MVP buzz in spurts last year, who has Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, Cameron Brate, and O.J. Howard this year, and who is rated as a 66-1 underdog to be the league’s top dog.
And now for some safe bets, if you want to place a little action on the “no.” Steelers receiver Antonio Brown has 50-1 odds to win an award that no receiver has ever won. If Brown ever would generate the kind of numbers necessary to be in the conversation, it will mean that the guy throwing the passes has likely done ever more to win the award.
Likewise, Broncos linebacker Von Miller is a 100-1 pick. With a new coach, new coordinators, and an unsettled quarterback situation, Miller will be hard pressed to stand out enough to become only the third defensive player to be named league MVP (Alan Page did it in 1971, and Lawrence Taylor won it in 1986), especially given the many great offensive players throughout the league. So, basically, if I was a betting man, I’d be inclined to risk $100 to win $1 if/when Miller doesn’t win the MVP award.