Frank Lorenzo
- Does Kirk Cousins’ move to the Vikings make them the title favorites next year?
- Will the Patriots still be a major factor?
- Does Aaron Rodgers get another chance to play for a Super Bowl?
To describe the type of day Tuesday was in the NFL in football terms – the day before free agency officially kicked off – it was a double A gap blitz that crumpled the design of the play.
Even though we knew it was coming, I mean, we didn’t see that coming.
It started with the Cleveland Browns, of all teams, winning the first pickup game of the afternoon and deciding to hold court, making separate trades for a QB (Tyrod Taylor), WR (Jarvis Landry) and a CB (Damarious Randall).
The Broncos got ahead of the game as well, deciding that the Plan A pursuit of pivot Kirk Cousins was going to be fruitless and bypassing that altogether to get to Plan B to ink Case Keenum.
Of course, Cousins was the big fish, and eventually news broke that he was intending to sign with the Vikings. He provided his own fireworks too, when it was reported and later confirmed that he was to receive a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million pact. That’s the NFL’s first known deal of its type. It’s 2018 and the league had its first Bigfoot sighting.
Crazy times indeed.
There’s a literal arms race brewing in the NFC West between the Rams and 49ers. The reigning champion Eagles are getting deeper and scarier, and the Miami Dolphins are running hard along that treadmill of mediocrity.
The Browns didn’t stop, the Jaguars doubled down on their O-line, the Bears got some offensive weapons, while that windy background sound is the exodus of talent leaving the New England and Seattle camps.
And, as has become custom in the NFL, someone is going to take a chance on Sam Bradford, and become wildly disappointed.
It’s still totally fluid, but there are major building blocks in place.
We don’t know what city the parade will be at yet, but we can definitely look into the crystal ball, as fan bases can begin drumming up their excuses to miss work in the event of a Super Bowl and said parade.
With that, let’s take a stab with our way-too-early, NFL free agency-has-got-me-thinking, dust-hasn’t-totally-settled Super Bowl 53 odds.
Atlanta, here we come:
- Philadelphia Eagles: 7/1
- New England Patriots: 9/1
- Minnesota Vikings: 12/1
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 15/1
- Green Bay Packers: 16/1
- Los Angeles Rams: 16/1
- New Orleans Saints: 21/1
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 23/1
- Houston Texans: 27/1
- Atlanta Falcons: 29/1
- Carolina Panthers: 29/1
- San Francisco 49ers: 33/1
- Los Angeles Chargers: 42/1
- Kansas City Chiefs: 49/1
- Dallas Cowboys: 52/1
- Denver Broncos: 55/1
- Seattle Seahawks: 56/1
- Washington Redskins: 56/1
- Tennessee Titans: 56/1
- Baltimore Ravens: 58/1
- Oakland Raiders: 59/1
- Indianapolis Colts: 62/1
- Detroit Lions: 63/1
- Arizona Cardinals: 68/1
- New York Giants: 80/1
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 82/1
- Buffalo Bills: 84/1
- Cincinnati Bengals: 85/1
- Miami Dolphins: 88/1
- New York Jets: 94/1
- Chicago Bears: 99/1
- Cleveland Browns: 124/1
