The Kansas City Chiefs may not have made a big splash in free agency, but few defending
Super Bowl champions need to do that in order to stay contenders the following season. In fact, one of Kansas City’s biggest roadblocks to get back to the big game got weaker when future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the New England Patriots, who saw their odds to win the Super Bowl drop at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com from their usual offseason level.
The Chiefs – led by reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes – are listed as the +600 favorites on the odds to win Super Bowl 55 in Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, Brady’s Buccaneers are tied with the New Orleans Saints at +1200 at betting sites and the Patriots are +2000 with second-year signal-caller Jarrett Stidham expected to take over for him. The Saints have another future Hall of Famer back under center in Drew Brees, as he is set to face Brady twice each regular season now as a new division rival in the NFC South. It is worth noting of course that no team has ever won the Super Bowl in its home stadium.
Two teams that fell short of winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy back on February 2 are also among the top contenders to win it next February 7, the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. The Ravens were the league’s best regular-season team a year ago with a franchise-best 14-2 record before ultimately getting upset by the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round of the playoffs. Baltimore is the +750 second choice on the NFL odds behind Kansas City this season thanks to 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
Defending NFC champion San Francisco is the +850 third choice ahead of both New Orleans and Tampa Bay as the better overall team in the conference. The 49ers have brought back most of their top players except for wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who both played key roles on the way to the Super Bowl. Sanders signed a two-year deal with the Saints, and Buckner was traded to the Indianapolis Colts, who inked quarterback Philip Rivers as well. The Colts are set at +3000 on the Super Bowl odds.
