As the 2022 NFL preseason officially begins with today’s Hall of Fame game, the league is grappling with another scandal.
It’s actually the same scandal it’s been dealing with over the last year and the change, but the thing just won’t go away.
After new Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was handed a pathetically loose six-game ban for sexually assaulting every massage therapist in Texas (“allegedly”), there was one in both mainstream sports media and NFL fandom considerable outrage and resistance.
But what did they really expect?
Given the NFL’s track record of illogical, inconsistent suspension standards (Ray Rice’s effective lifetime ban for far less comes to mind), it’s actually quite amazing that Watson got six full games to reflect on his criminal behavior.
If you really want to be outraged (as if you need extra motivation), consider the case of Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley.
Ridley is serving an indefinite suspension — which will last at least a full NFL season — for betting on football in late 2021 while he was off the team for personal reasons.
Roger Goodell — the most incompetent league commissioner in sportsball history (seriously, that clown must have given a fuck about any NFL owner at this point) — rationalizes it this way in a letter to Ridley:
“Your actions compromised the integrity of the game, threatened to damage public confidence in professional football, and potentially undermined the reputation of your fellow players throughout the NFL.”
Keep in mind that Ridley’s paltry bets totaled around $1500 and didn’t make any impact in any game.
Also remember that the NFL is the official sportsbook partner of FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, WynnBET and a host of other sportsbooks.
Responding to Watson’s tiny suspension, the Browns – who have their new QB’s $230 million contract with a base salary of just $690,000 for the first season (as the team expected at least a year’s suspension) – have seen their chances had improved dramatically on the NFL futures boards in general and the 2022 Super Bowl odds boards in particular.
Yesterday these odds looked like this (via BetOnline Sportsbook):
Odds for the 2022 NFL AFC Championship
- Buffalo Bill’s +375
- Kansas City Chiefs +550
- Chargers from Los Angeles +800
- Baltimore Ravens +1000
- Cincinnati Bengal +1100
- Cleveland Brown’s +1100
- Denver Broncos +1200
- Indianapolis Colts +1200
- Tennessee Titans +1800
- Miami Dolphins +1800
- + More
2022 Super Bowl Champion Odds
- Buffalo Bill’s +575
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers +850
- Kansas City Chiefs +1000
- Green Bay Packers +1200
- Los Angeles Rams +1200
- Chargers from Los Angeles +1400
- Baltimore Ravens +1800
- Cincinnati Bengal +1800
- San Francisco 49ers +1800
- Cleveland Brown’s +2000
- + More
And finally, here’s a Watson-specific line as it stood 24 hours ago:
2022 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Odds
- Derrick Henry +350
- James Winston +500
- Christ McCaffrey +800
- Deshaun Watson +1200
- Michael Thomas +1200
- Chase Young +1200
- Mitch Trubisky +1600
- Markus Mariota +1600
- Daniel Jones +2000
- JK Dobbins +2000
- + More
If you were high with the Browns but haven’t bet yet, back off. The odds could be much longer.
Of course, but at the same time, they could completely put themselves out of the question.
Why?
Apparently, the NFL — through some kind of senseless corporate gymnastics — is now taking action against its own suspension of Watson.
Aside from the confusing nature of that reality — yes, we know the criminal CBA is likely to blame, but even the NFLPA shouldn’t want to look too bad — the league is now trying to at least suspend Watson for the entire upcoming season and the NFL Playoffs 2022.
So if that happens — and just because it should doesn’t mean it will — rest assured that the Browns’ AFC title odds and Super Bowl odds (along with Watson’s CPOY odds) will all be on the toilet are.
But at least for now, don’t bet on the Browns.
After all, even with a healthy Watson down the middle, they’re still the Browns.
Oh yeah. About the mission statement above:
The WNBA’s Brittney Griner has just been sentenced to nine years in Russian prison. Don’t do drugs, kids.
Or, if you do use drugs, at least don’t do so in foreign countries where you are unfamiliar with local drug laws.
Or, if you do, at least don’t bring the drugs through an airport in said foreign country.
Prisoner swap quotas are undoubtedly coming.