The NFL’s biggest off-season soap opera is over for now with Aaron Rodgers back with the Packers, but how does that impact the odds for the 2021 NFL season.
We are just weeks away from the regular season, but there is at least a little rejoicing in the state of Wisconsin after the future Hall of Fame QB ended his feud with the team’s front office.
Rodgers, who had wanted a trade earlier in the offseason, reported for camp last week and restructured his contract with the team.
The upshot is he will play 2021 in Green Bay, before likely being traded next offseason. The contract restructuring voids the 2023 season, meaning 2022 would be his last with the Packers. At this stage a trade seems far more likely.
Doubts about whether Rodgers would play for Green Bay this Fall had caused chaos in pro football betting circles – at one stage we had the Vikings as favorite to win the NFC North! Just a few short days later, normality is starting to return.
Here’s the latest from the online bookmakers on how Green Bay will perform when the NFL season gets under way in September.
Packers Super Bowl Odds
It’s a source of frustration for many Packers fans (and likely Rodgers) that he only has one Super Bowl ring to show for a glorious career in the NFL. And that came a decade ago in early 2011.
Many blame the front office for not surrounding Aaron with the talent to win championships. That criticism reached a peak – and pushed Rodgers himself over the edge – when they drafted his future replacement Jordan Love in Round 1 in 2020.
That led to a highly unamused and motivated Rodgers winning league MVP honors and leading GB to a 13-3 record and the first seed in the NFC. It would eventually lose to Tom Brady and the Bucs in the NFC title game, leading to more acrimony from Rodgers.
How will the problems this offseason impact the Packers in 2021? Will Rodgers be motivated to go out on a real high, or will there be a lack of harmony in that locker room?
Well the odds makers clearly believe it will not be a great thing for Green Bay – you can currently bet the Packers at +1500 (FOX Bet) to win Super Bowl LVI in SoFi Stadium next February. You bet $100 to win $1500.
It’s difficult to imagine those odds being available if Aaron had been a happy camper for the last six months. If you tell me Green Bay is genuinely only the fifth or sixth best bet to win it all, I call BS.
Packers odds to win the division
Like we said, a few short days ago the word was Rodgers was about to retire from pro football completely. As of now.
Those rumors were likely designed to force the Packers to the table to get this thing ironed out ahead of training camp – nothing works better than a hard deadline in these situations.
When they hit the NFL media ecosystem things went crazy. The odds to win the NFC North totally flipped with Minnesota taking over as favorite (guess Vegas don’t think much of Jordan Love…).
Since Rodgers reported to camp though, and we heard about his new deal, things are settling down again with Green Bay once again favorite on the NFC North money line.
Latest Odds To Win The NFC North in 2021:
- -140 Green Bay Packers (PointsBet)
- +300 Minnesota Vikings (Unibet)
- +550 Chicago Bears (DraftKings)
- +2800 Detroit Lions (DraftKings)
NB: Odds correct on August 1, 2021
Can the Packers make the Playoffs?
Heck, they absolutely should do. But again the odds aren’t quite as clear-cut as the once were.
It’s now -230 (William Hill) that the Packers are in the post-season come January, and +450 (DraftKings) that they are not.
How many regular season wins in 2021?
Sportsbooks set an over/under for every NFL team and its regular-season wins. No different in 2021.
Many sportsbooks though took this Green Bay Line off the market when those retirement rumors began to swirl.
The line is available now and DraftKings set the over/under for GB at 10. If you think it wins more than 10 games you buy, if you think it doesn’t you sell. Simples.
Green Bay Packers 2021 Schedule
The 2021 NFL Schedule is out, and the Cowboys have the fourth most difficult slate in the league (.542). In short, last season’s stellar regular-season showing makes it harder for them in 2021. That is always how this league works = parity.
Green Bay, like the other 31 teams, will play a 17-game regular-season schedule for the first ever time in 2021.
That Packers schedule is as follows:
- September 12: Green Bay Packers @ New Orleans Saints
- September 20: Green Bay Packers vs Detroit Lions
- September 26: Green Bay Packers @ San Francisco 49ers
- October 3: Green Bay Packers vs Pittsburgh Steelers
- October 10: Green Bay Packers @ Cincinnati Bengals
- October 17: Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears
- October 24: Green Bay Packers vs Washington Football Team
- October 28: Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals
- November 7: Green Bay Packers @ Kansas City Chiefs
- November 14: Green Bay Packers vs Seattle Seahawks
- November 21: Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings
- November 28: Green Bay Packers vs Los Angeles Rams
- December 12: Green Bay Packers vs Chicago Bears
- December 19: Green Bay Packers @ Baltimore Ravens
- December 25: Green Bay Packers vs Cleveland Browns
- January 2: Green Bay Packers vs Minnesota Vikings
- January 9: Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers 2021 Draft
If Rodgers was highly p***ed when Green Bay used its first pick on a QB in 2020, he likely felt a little better when it selected a CB in 2021. Yep not an offensive selection, but one which was very much needed.
Watching Packers CBs get victimised during that defeat by Tampa led everybody to believe the secondary needed attention, and picking up Georgia’s Eric Stokes early was a step in the right direction.
After that it was some love for Aaron, with offensive lineman Josh Myers arriving in Round 2 and another Rodgers – Clemson WR Amari – in Round 3. T.J. Slaton was picked in Round 4, again to beef up that offensive front.
The Green Bay Packers draft picks in 2021 were as follows (overall pick number in brackets):
- Round 1 (29): Eric Stokes, CB Georgia
- Round 2 (62): Josh Myers, CB/G Ohio State
- Round 3 (85): Amari Rodgers, WR Clemson
- Round 4 (142): Royce Newman, T/G Mississippi
- Round 5 (173): T.J. Slaton, DL Florida
- Round 5 (178): Shemar Jean-Charles, CB Appalachian State
- Round 6 (214): Cole Van Lanen, T/G Wisconsin
- Round 6 (220): Isaiah McDuffie, LB Boston College
- Round 7 (256): Kylin Hill, RB Mississippi State