NFL futures: More than SB odds impacted by Deshaun Watson injury news
Despite having an injury-riddled and oft-interception-prone campaign, Deshaun Watson's presence on the field gave the Cleveland Browns a boost at sportsbooks on multiple fronts.
Well, until this week, anyway.
The Browns announced this week Watson will undergo season-ending surgery on his injured throwing shoulder after he played through the injury on multiple occasions — including during last week's 33-31 win against the Baltimore Ravens. No sooner did the news break that oddsmakers took a very different stance on Cleveland's odds of going deep into the playoffs. And it isn't just a Super Bowl run that has been affected.
Here's a look at how Watson's season-ending injury has impacted the Browns in the sports betting world.
After going 5-1-0 through six games played this season, Watson helped get the Browns listed at 22-1 odds at BetMGM to win the Super Bowl. Since the season-ending surgery was announced, their odds at BetMGM grew to 40-1 and they are now 50-1 long shots to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy and 25-1 long shots of topping the AFC.
It isn't just the Super Bowl odds that are showing Watson's value to the team.
As CBS Sports points out, fantasy value for members of the Browns' offensive arsenal is also being impacted, wide receiver Amari Cooper in particular.
"It's an immediate downgrade for the entire offense, making Amari Cooper more of a boom-or-bust WR3 and David Njoku more like a TE2, while limiting scoring opportunities for the Browns' running backs," CBS Sports explained. "Jerome Ford is an RB3 moving forward, while Kareem Hunt is more like an RB4, and you're probably not in a great spot if you need to trust either moving forward."
Not surprisingly, Watson's exit from the season has also impacted the spread for Cleveland's Week 11 home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Action Network had the Browns open as the 4.5-point favorites to win that game prior to the big news. Following the season-ending surgery announcement, Cleveland is now the one-point underdog.
There's no telling yet how the Browns will perform having Dorian Thompson-Robinson or P.J. Walker under center for the remainder of the season. One thing is for certain, though: Watson's exit has already changed how bettors and oddsmakers look at them.
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