Bears 50/1 Odds in Illinois Sportsbooks
The Chicago Bears created excitement in April when they traded up for franchise quarterback Justin Fields in the 2021 NFL Draft
but Sportsbooks in Illinois still list the “Monsters of the Midway” as 50/1 long shots to win this year’s Super Bowl.
Offseason Moves
One of the first moves the Bears made this offseason was assigning the franchise tag to wide receiver Allen Robinson. Tagging Robinson for $16.4 million guaranteed that the receiver will be in Chicago for at least one more season, although the Bears would love to sign their No. 1 wideout to a long-term extension. As of this writing, Robinson has been reluctant to agree to a new deal.
The team also made headlines for signing Cairo Santos to a five-year, $16 million contract despite the fact that the kicker has been cut five times by various teams since 2017. Nevertheless, he converted 93.8 percent of his 2020 field goal attempts and the Bears hope he’ll be their long-term answer to their kicking woes.
Of course, the Bears made the biggest headlines for signing veteran Andy Dalton, formerly of the Cowboys, to a one-year, $10 million contract. Dalton is expected to start Week 1 for Chicago, although the rookie Fields could find his way into the starting mix sooner rather than later if the team struggles out of the gates. With coach Matt Nagy’s seat hot, it’ll be interesting to see how long he waits before taking the reins off Fields and allowing him to save everyone’s jobs. For now, Dalton will be the team’s replacement for massive first-round bust Mitchell Trubisky, who signed a free-agent deal with the Bills to back up starter Josh Allen.
The Bears also made several depth moves this offseason, which included releasing former first-rounder Kyle Fuller, who signed a free agent deal with the Broncos after his release. The Bears reportedly didn’t want to release Fuller, who they were in a bad salary cap spot after signing Dalton and they needed to make the difficult decision to release their No. 1 corner. They did sign Desmond Trufant to replace Fuller, although the former Falcon and Lion hasn’t played well (or stayed healthy) in years.
Super Bowl Odds
Sportsbooks in Illinois currently list the Bears as long shots to win the 2021 Super Bowl. Most books in Illinois list Chicago’s odds at 50/1, which puts the Bears in the same category as the Washington Football Team (50/1), the Falcons (66/1), Panthers (66/1) and Giants (66/1).
For comparison’s sake, NFC North rivals the Packers are 12/1 (although those odds will change as soon as Aaron Rodgers officially reports to training camp), while the Vikings are 40/1 to win the Super Bowl. The Lions have the worst odds to win among the teams in the Bears’ division at 150/1.