Deshaun Watson trade moves Browns’ odds

Another day, another massive quarterback transaction in the NFL.

Within the past few weeks, we’ve seen Aaron Rodgers decide to stay in Green Bay, Russell Wilson get moved to Denver, and Tom Brady decide to come out of retirement and return to Tampa Bay.

On Friday, we added another name to the list. The Cleveland Browns traded for Deshaun Watson and immediately gave him a massive contract.

Like we saw with the Rodgers, Wilson and Brady news, the betting market reacted swiftly.

Cleveland odds see seismic shift

Entering last year, many people viewed the Cleveland Browns as a talented team ready to take the next step. They were coming off their first playoff appearance since 2002 and won a road playoff game in Pittsburgh during the 2020 season.

The one question everybody had about the Browns was whether Baker Mayfield was good enough to lead a team to a Super Bowl. Mayfield was certainly inconsistent in his first three seasons in the league, but he ended 2020 playing the best football of his career.

In 2021, everything went wrong for the Browns. They had key injuries at many positions, highlighted by Mayfield’s torn labrum that originally occurred in Week 2. Mayfield tried playing through the injury, but it appeared he was getting more and more beat up as the season went on.

Mayfield had an absolutely awful season. There was also the Odell Beckham Jr. situation that made Mayfield and the Browns look even worse. The Browns went 8-9 and missed the playoffs while their cross-state division rivals with a young flashy quarterback of their own won the division and went all the way to the Super Bowl.

With questions surrounding Mayfield, the Browns opened at 30-to-1 to win the Super Bowl. Those were the 10th-best odds in the AFC. As the offseason unfolded, the Browns moved down to 35-to-1 over the next few weeks.

However, after trading for Watson, the Browns are now just 16-to-1 to win the Super Bowl. These are the eighth-best odds in the league and the fourth-best odds in the AFC…