2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Odds: Can Nick Bosa Repeat?
Talk about a monetary incentive to have a monster NFL season.
The San Francisco 49ers and defensive end Nick Bosa agreed to a five-year, $170 million extension Wednesday that will make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
The extension includes $122.5 million guaranteed, the source told ESPN.
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year is expected to play in Sunday's season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bosa, 25, made his first All-Pro team last season and third Pro Bowl berth after recording a league-leading 18.5 sacks, 51 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 58 quarterback pressures.
So you would think that Bosa – or perhaps his older brother Joey, the Chargers’ defensive star who now makes far less than his younger sibling – would be the favorite to win the award.
Well, Nick Bosa is not. Nor is Joey, who is coming off an injury-plagued 2022 season in which he played just five games
In fact, Nick is just the fourth betting favorite according to FanDuel Sportsbook, one of our favorite sites, along with many other great gambling sites in the U.S., including DraftKings Sportsbook, BetMGM and more. And, good news: All of these sites accept PayPal and/or Venmo.
Let’s take a look at the current odds (top 20) for DPOY.
AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year 2023-24
Micah Parsons +450
Myles Garrett +600
T.J. Watt +800
Nick Bosa +1200
Aaron Donald +2000
Ahmad Gardner +2000
Maxx Crosby +2500
Chris Jones +2500
Quinnen Williams +3000
Haason Reddick +3000
Aidan Hutchinson +3000
Joey Bosa +3500
Brian Burns +3500
Roquan Smith +4000
Patrick Surtain II +4000
Fred Warner +5000
Matthew Judon +5000
Jaelan Phillips +5000
Kayvon Thibodeaux +6000
Von Miller +6000
Last year before the season started, I picked Parsons to win and he finished second in the voting.
Now, he’s the favorite.
Hmm.
Sauce Gardner could have a shot (sweet odds at +2000) if he can accomplish what he did last season as a Jets rookie, which was to become arguably the top corner in the league. He had a 27% forced incompletion rate, the best among all CBs, and he also had a league-best 20 pass deflections.
He’ll face a slew of top receivers this season but if he can lock them down as he did a year ago, he could be the surprise winner.
However, since the award’s inception in 1971, only six cornerbacks have won the award, and just two since 1995.
Parsons should have another awesome season for the Cowboys and T.J. Watt, if he’s fully healthy for the Steelers, could win his second DPOY following his win in 2021.
But I’m going with Nick Bosa, great value at +1200 too, to become just the third back-to-back DPOY winner, joining Lawrence Taylor (1981, 1982), J.J. Watt (2014, 2015), and Aaron Donald (2017, 2018).
I believe Bosa will want to prove he’s worth the value of his massive contract and thank the Niners’ organization for A): Paying him what he’s worth and B): Not trading him.
That’s a ton of money but he’ll make San Francisco brass glad they got the deal done.
You’ll be glad too if you bet on Nick Bosa.
