How Has Signing Russell Wilson Affected Steelers Super Bowl Odds?

The Russell saga is a unique one. In an era of NFL football where players are demanding and receiving larger guaranteed money contracts, the Russell Wilson deal is right up there with Bobby Bonilla and Deshaun Watson as examples of when guaranteed money goes wrong.

On July 1st: It’s Bobby Bonilla Day!

The Deshaun Watson Disaster – The Worst Trade in NFL History?

Just a year and a half ago, John Elway signed Russell Wilson to a contract extension in Wilson’s first year with the Broncos after being traded from the Seahawks. The contract was a $245 million extension that included $165 million of guaranteed money. Russell Wilson would play just one more season with Denver after this contract was signed before they waived him. The Broncos are still on the hook to pay Wilson $45M this season. Yikes.

Russell Wilson signed a league minimum deal with the Steelers this week that will pay him just $1.21M. Money is not an issue for Russell (obviously). This is a prove-yourself kind of deal. The Steelers have nothing to lose basically. They have a very solid team but have not had a good QB since Ben Roethlisberger retired. They have gone through a few of them; Mitchell Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and now Kenny Pickett.

The Steelers apparently met with the current starter Kenny Pickett before signing Wilson to smooth things over. Essentially, both quarterbacks will be competing for the starting job this summer.

Steelers Futures Betting Odds Post Russell Wilson Signing

The Steelers odds to win their division, conference and the Super Bowl have improved greatly. Action coming in on the Steelers has shortened these lines quite a bit.

The Steelers were +9000 to win Super Bowl 59 just a week ago. They are now sitting at +4000 at SportsBetting.ag

According to these numbers, they have doubled their odds of winning the Super Bowl with changes they have made this week, mainly signing Wilson. The only other deal they made was singing Punter Cameron Johnston to a three year contract. It’s clear that picking up Wilson has dramatically improved their odds in the eyes of sports bettors. Still, at 40/1 odds they are just about in the middle of the pack on the odds board and dead last in their division.

Other Steelers Odds

To win the AFC North

Ravens -105
Bengals +175
Browns +565
Steelers +1100

To Win the AFC Conference as listed at SportsBetting.ag

Kansas City Chiefs +325
Baltimore Ravens +500
Buffalo Bills +700
Cincinnati Bengals +700
Miami Dolphins +1200
Houston Texans +1400
Los Angeles Chargers +1600
New York Jets +1600
Jacksonville Jaguars +2000
Pittsburgh Steelers +2000
Cleveland Browns +2200
Indianapolis Colts +2800
Las Vegas Raiders +4500
Denver Broncos +5000
Tennessee Titans +7500
New England Patriots +7500