Before last season, the NFL betting world was stunned that the biggest star in the league and perhaps the greatest Quarterback of all time was being handed a 4 game suspension due to his involvement in “deflategate.” After an appeal and just in time before he season was about to start, the U.S. court revoked the original suspension that was handed to Tom Brady.
That victory cause the NFL, and most importantly, commissioner Roger Goodell, to suffer a major defeat in the court system. Brady would then go o to lead the Patriots on a very good run that reached all the way to the AFC Championship game versus the Broncos. Denver, the underdogs on that game, would end up winning the Super Bowl.
Fast forward to April 25th, after over 15 months of controversy the US Appeals court ruled that the suspension over “deflategate.” The 33-page decision included the following statement:
“We hold that the commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness. Accordingly, we reverse the judgement of the district court and remand with instructions to confirm the award.”
This ruling leaves Brady with very few legal options, one being taking the matter all the way to the Supreme Court. The Patriots and Brady himself have not yet commented on the decision.
What does this mean for NFL betting? At the time of writing this article, the current line that we have posted for the Patriots first week game is the same as it was when the schedule was first posted: PK (-105). However, we can let our players know hat given the magnitude and uncertainty of this matter the line will be likely taken down momentarily until the matter is cleared in the future. The first four games of the season for the Patriots, will see them going first to Arizona and play the tough Cardinals team. Then, they go back for a series of 3 home games versus the Dolphins, Texans and Bills. The NFL betting odds for those games will be posted later on, but as for the time being, the season opener remains the same.
As for the NFL Football betting odds to win the Super Bowl, and the AFC Championship, the line remains and at the moment has not changed. The line to win the Super Bowl, opened up with the Patriots at +755, which has dropped to +735 over the weekend, but it has stayed the same since then. The line for the Patriots to win the AFC has not changed since it was posted; it remains at +305.
Obviously, every single NFL betting fan knows that Tom Brady is Ron-Burgundy-level kind of a big deal, specially when it comes to game odds. Insiders have stated that Tom Brady is almost automatically a 7-point difference, and the lines (before the NFL draft, mind you) will certainly change in the coming days, if not hours.