Football season is right around the corner. Training camps are under way for several NFL teams and games are less than two months out. What can we expect to see during the 2026 campaign?
Action on gridiron cannot arrive soon enough. The World Cup is over, there are no more golf majors in 2026, Wimbledon has come and gone and baseball is in the dog days of summer. Fortunately, football is coming to save sports fans. And it’s never too early to start thinking about the direction that your NFL futures wagers will take.
In terms of the individual markets, NFL MVP is obviously the most popular. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is looking to go back-to-back, but Josh Allen of the Bills is going off as the favorite.
Other awards categories include Comeback Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year and Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Let’s break down some futures betting options and discuss the best plays to make.
2026 NFL season award betting picks and predictions
Matthew Stafford to win NFL MVP (+1100)
Stafford earned NFL MVP honors in 2025, throwing 46 touchdown passes compared to just eight interceptions to go along with 4707 yards and a 65.0 completion percentage. Offensive weapons such as Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are back, so Stafford has every reason to achieve more success.
The 38-year-old could very well be the best player – or at least the one with the most eye-popping statistics – on the best team. That is a perfect combination with which to win MVP.
The Rams loaded up with Myles Garrett, while Aaron Donald is expected to be coaxed out of retirement. As such, they are +290 favorites to win the NFC and +550 favorites to win the Super Bowl.
Malik Nabers to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year (+1800)
Voters should give Malik Nabers preferential treatment because he missed almost all of last season (his torn ACL came in Week 4) and his injury was particularly significant as it also involved a torn meniscus and second procedure in the spring became necessary in addition to the initial surgery. Plus, his team is not very good.
Of course, it’s up to Nabers to bounce back and produce in 2026. If he does, and especially if helps take the Giants to some level of success, CPOY honors are well within reach.
Patrick Mahomes does not have any value as a massive favorite. The truth is that he should be disqualified from consideration given that he played in 14 games last season.
Yes, Mahomes is coming off a torn ACL – but it’s not like he went down in Week 1 and missed basically the entire year. The Chiefs and their signal-caller are simply coming off a disappointing 2025 campaign. You should not be rewarded for underachieving when an injury was a non-factor until the very end of the season.
Zac Taylor to win NFL Coach of the Year (+2500)
The main criterion for this award, of course, is simply to have a good team. Doing so when expectations heading into the season are not especially high is a bonus.
Zac Taylor and the Bengals certainly have a chance to be very good if not even great. The key, of course, is for Joe Burrow to stay healthy - only twice in the last four years has Burrow played more than 10 games. When that happened, Cincinnati made it to the Super Bowl in 2022 and the star QB won Comeback Player of the Year in 2024.
With Burrow throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the Bengals’ offense is always going to be dangerous. They also spent a boatload of money to revamp their defense, so this could actually be a somewhat well-rounded squad.
Cincinnati is tied as the seventh favorite to win the AFC, so it has prime opportunity to overachieve relative to those odds.
NFL season award odds
MVP
- Josh Allen +550
- Lamar Jackson +650
- Joe Burrow +800
- Drake Maye +1000
- Justin Herbert +1000
- Patrick Mahomes +1100
- Matthew Stafford +1100
- Dak Prescott +1200
- Caleb Williams +1400
- Jordan Love +1400
Comeback Player of the Year
- Patrick Mahomes +175
- Kyler Murray +550
- Micah Parsons +850
- Malik Nabers +1600
- Daniel Jones +1800
- Fred Warner +2200
- George Kittle +2200
- Nick Bosa +2200
Coach of the Year
- Jesse Minter +700
- John Harbaugh +700
- Joe Brady +1200
- Kellen Moore +1200
- Robert Saleh +1200
- Kevin Stefanski +1600
- Brian Schottenheimer +1800
- Jim Harbaugh +2000
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
