There are very few that have an accurate pulse on the sports world. The Las Vegas sports books are in that very few. When they move, they generally know what they are doing.
Well via Bill Huber of SI.com:
Because of the importance of the reigning NFL MVP, Westgate SuperBook recently closed all its NFC North markets, including projected wins, playoff odds, divisional odds and weekly lines for the four division teams, one oddsmaker at the sportsbook said via a Twitter direct message.
Two other sportsbooks contacted after that initial message said the expectation is Rodgers is going to announce his retirement sometime before the first practice on Wednesday. In response, one of those sportsbooks pushed out its prices on the Packers to win the NFC North and shortened the odds for the other teams. It also shortened the odds of Patrick Mahomes winning NFL MVP.
Pro Football Talk has always maintained that a retirement wasn’t out of the question stating now that:
Rodgers has kept his card close to the vest. A retirement for 2021 would make sense, since it would help him avoid up to $2 million in fines for holding out of training camp. However, he’d still lose a $6.8 million roster bonus earned in March and payable each week of the 2021 regular season. He’d also be subject to repayment of $11.5 million in unearned signing bonus money for 2021. (Some believe the Packers would never try to collect, or successfully recover, the $11.5 million.)
He then could unretire in 2022, with the Packers trading him and Rodgers resuming his career.
This entire fiasco has been beyond insane. We have reported on the soap opera of everybody’s opinion from Adam Schefter to insanely unimportant celebrities. As a Packer fan, this is the first time I’ve actually been concerned. As a gambler I know Vegas knows things before we know things. This is no guarantee but this is definitely not a great sign
