The signing of free agent quarterback Tom Brady has paid immediate dividends for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After inking the six-time Super Bowl winner to a two-year deal that will reportedly pay him $50 million, the Buccaneers rocketed up the Super Bowl odds, joining the favourites as a +1200 wager on those futures at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
With sporting odds as long as +5800 on the Super Bowl 55 betting lines at the end of last season, the Buccaneers have struggled to return to contention since claiming their first and only Super Bowl victory back in 2003. Tampa Bay has failed to post a victory in just two playoff appearances since then, and finished last in the NFC South in eight of the past 11 seasons.
However, Tampa Bay provided promising glimpses during the 2019 campaign, which they closed out on a solid 5-3 run, with each of their defeats coming by just a single score. In addition, Brady inherits an offence that averaged a third-ranked 28.6 points per game in 2019.
While the Buccaneers have soared, the New England Patriots took a step back on the Super Bowl 55 odds at sports betting sites following Brady’s departure. Listed at a respectable +1100 in the wake of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 31-20 win over San Francisco in Super Bowl 54, the Patriots have made a speedy drop to their current position, at +2000 odds.
The Patriots are coming off a disappointing 2019 campaign, which opened on a promising 8-0 run but ended with a stunning loss to the Tennessee Titans on Wild Card Weekend. And while it remains far from clear as to who will replace Brady under centre in New England, the Patriots continue to sit third on the odds to win the AFC championship, trailing only the Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens as a +850 wager.
The Chiefs continue to lead the way on the Super Bowl 55 odds as +600 favourites, just ahead of the Ravens, at +750, while the 49ers round out the front of the pack at +850. Kansas City is set to return with their Super Bowl-winning core largely intact, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who sits as a +600 favourite to claim NFL MVP honours, just ahead of Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who sits second at +650.
Despite re-signing Drew Brees to a two-year contract and strengthening their receiving corps with the addition of free agent Emmanuel Sanders, the New Orleans Saints find themselves deadlocked with the Buccaneers at +1200 on the Super Bowl 55 odds. Further down those NFL odds, the Seattle Seahawks trail at +1600, just ahead of the Green Bay Packers at +1800, while the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers join the Patriots at +2000.
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