The NFL free agent signing period is right around the corner. Beginning March 10th, some of the biggest names in professional football will be sporting new colors and maybe even filling swimming pools with cash because… why not? It’s time for teams who have taken good care of their salary cap to start throwing around great big piles of cash. Will these players be overpaid? Sure, but if they wind up being a contributing piece to a Super Bowl run, no one will be complaining about the price tag.
As such, many of the best USA sportsbooks like Bovada have released several player props as to which jerseys they will take the field in come week one of the NFL season.
Perhaps the most intriguing case this NFL offseason is that of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. While conventional wisdom is that the running back position has been de-valued, there is always the exception that proves the rule and in the case of Peterson, even though he’s not even technically a free agent, there should be a long line of interested suitors.
Following an ugly legal situation which led to a year-long suspension for Peterson, speculations of a trade heated up once the regular season ended. Even so, the Vikings are the favorite to hang onto him for the time being with odds of 5/6. The Dallas Cowboys (9/4) have been public about courting Peterson, and are seen as the most likely landing spot if Peterson were to run out of town. Also in play are the Indianapolis Colts (5/1,) Arizona Cardinals, (9/1) and San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A bet on either of those longshots would warrant a $10 profit for every $1 wagered.
The most interesting free agent who will technically hit the market is Ndamukong Suh. It’s rare a player of Suh’s caliber ever hits the open market, and come mid-March, he will surely be one of the highest paid players in the league. While the Detroit Lions are still technically in the running to retain his services, Bovada doesn’t think it very likely. The line on Suh remaining in Detroit is (+200,) or 2/1 in fractional odds.
Other high profile free agents in this class are DeMarco Murray who led the NFL in rushing last year. He is a slight favorite to leave home with a line of (-140) to leave, and even odds to be on the Cowboys roster come week one of the regular season. One more free agent betting line is for current Green Bay Packers slot receiver Randall Cobb. He is an overwhelming favorite to stay in Green Bay with is hall-of-fame caliber quarterback (-300) versus leaving, (+200) but the beautiful thing about the salary cap era in the NFL is you can never really tell.