Fresh off one of the worst head coaching stints in NFL history, Nathaniel Hackett has found a new home in New York. And the Jets’ title odds have already shortened because of it.
No, it isn’t because oddsmakers have that much faith in Hackett, who was hired Thursday as the team’s new offensive coordinator after lasting just 15 games as the Broncos’ head coach.
It’s all about his connections to one man: Aaron Rodgers. And there are plenty of what-ifs that go along with this speculation.
New York Jets Super Bowl odds
Since Hackett’s hire, the Jets’ Super Bowl odds have shortened. At PointsBet, New York went from being +4000 to take home the Lombardi Trophy to +3500 after the move. Clearly, they’ve taken some money in the market from bettors who think Rodgers could follow his old colleague to the Big Apple.
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The Jets were already expected to pursue the four-time MVP this offseason after a drama-filled run with the Packers that culminated with a disastrous 8-9 season in 2022. There’s a chance Rodgers hangs it up after a prolific 18-year run in Green Bay. Still, it’s seeming likelier by the day that he’ll try to force his way to another team – much like his predecessor, Brett Favre, who was traded to the Jets (hint, hint) in 2008 following his own 16-year run with the Packers.
So, where does Hackett fit in? Before his historically inept 15-game run in Denver, he served as Green Bay’s offensive coordinator from 2019-21, when the team won 13 games in three consecutive seasons. The Packers also boasted the NFL’s top-ranked scoring offense (31.8 PPG) in 2020 with Hackett as the primary play-caller – which helped propel Rodgers to back-to-back MVP awards.
The enigmatic quarterback is believed to have built a positive relationship with Hackett when the two worked together in Green Bay, and he even hinted at following Hackett to a new team near the end of the 2021 season:
We’ve seen this story play out here. Last year, the Broncos were widely speculated as a top landing spot for the future Hall of Famer before they hired Hackett as their new head coach, which seemed like a clear attempt to strengthen their standing in the Rodgers sweepstakes. Oddsmakers immediately took notice, slashing Denver’s title price from 35/1 to 18/1 at DraftKings on the day of his hire.
We all know how that turned out: Rodgers signed a new deal in Green Bay, and Denver traded for Russell Wilson in one of the worst moves in league history – laying the groundwork for the team’s embarrassing 5-12 campaign in 2022.
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Could the Jets be attempting a similar strategy here? Head coach Robert Saleh does have a prior relationship with Hackett when they both served as position coaches for the Jaguars in 2015-16, though Hackett’s relationship with Rodgers clearly feels like the biggest draw here.
It’s also the most apparent reason for the shift in the team’s title price, though with so few books hanging odds on next year’s Super Bowl, the sample size here is admittedly small. Still, it’s rare to see a team’s odds move based solely on the hiring of an assistant coach, especially one coming off such historical ineptitude.
Let the Rodgers hysteria begin.