Whether an NFL player is suspended for an off-field issue is completely up to commissioner Roger Goodell – for example, we are still waiting word on how long that new Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will be suspended for all those civil lawsuits even though he wasn’t convicted of any crime. That doesn’t matter in the eyes of the NFL. Let’s look at the rumors we have today and how they benefit NFL betting.
NFL 2022 Rumors
Most expect Watson to get at least six games, meaning Jacoby Brissett would be the starter. Brissett is on his fourth NFL team since entering the league in 2016 and has played 60 games with 37 starts. He’s passed for 7,772 yards, 36 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, including 1,281 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions in 11 games and five starts with the Dolphins last season. Baker Mayfield is still on the Cleveland roster but is a lock to be either traded or released before training camp starts because he has burned too many bridges.
One team that could trade for him? Carolina. Which so happens to host the Browns in Week 1, with Cleveland as 4.5-point favorite. Amazingly, the Browns are winless in 17 straight season openers. The Panthers are 4-2 against the Browns all-time, and 2-0 in games played at home. They last played the Browns in Carolina in 2014, a 17-13 win. The Browns won the last meeting between the teams, a 2018 game in front of the Dawg Pound in Cleveland. It marks the fifth-straight year that Carolina has opened the season at home. They’ve gone 7-3 in the last 10 home openers.
Hopes are very high in Denver with the offseason addition of Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson. The Broncos ironically open Week 1 at Seattle, Wilson’s former team. That’s the first Monday night game of the year on Sept. 12 with the Broncos at -4. Will Wilson have top receiver Jerry Jeudy available? It now seems the answer is yes barring injury.
Last week Jeudy was arrested in Colorado on charges of second-degree criminal tampering as part of a domestic violence case. Arapahoe Sheriff Tyler Brown stated that the accuser is the mother of Jeudy’s 1-month-old daughter, but that no physical contact was made as part of the incident. Deputies were dispatched, Brown explained, after the woman asked for a “keep the peace” situation, alleging Jeudy had her “property” and could not access it.
Jeudy’s charge of second-degree criminal tampering indicates interference with another person’s property “with intent to cause injury, inconvenience or annoyance.” The charge, a misdemeanor, includes a “domestic violence enhancer,” which designates Jeudy’s relation to his accuser. The good news for Jeudy is that his girlfriend has since asked a judge to dismiss the case.
Jeudy’s lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, said Jeudy did not do anything that amounted to a crime and the domestic violence label should not have been applied to his case since there was no violence or attempted violence.
“Bad things happen to good people, and that’s what this case is,” Steinberg said.
Authorities have said there were no allegations of any physical violence. However, under Colorado law, domestic violence can include any crime committed against an intimate partner or their property that is used to intimidate, coerce or seek revenge against them. The law also requires police to arrest anyone they suspect committed such a crime.
Now that Wilson is around, Jeudy, a 2-2- first-round pick out of Alabama, could be in line for a breakout season. He was limited to 10 games and had 38 catches for 467 yards and no TDs last season but the Broncos also had terrible quarterback play.
Going back to that Broncos-Seahawks opener, Seattle is one of 10 home underdogs in Week 1, the most in an opening week in the Super Bowl era. Home teams were favored by only 1.65 points last season, the third lowest in the Super Bowl era, behind only 2020 (1.10) and 1969 (-1.65). Home teams covered the spread in 48% of games last season and have had a losing record against the spread in 15 of the past 18 seasons, including four in a row.