Packer Central

Trade Winds Blow Packers to Bottom of Updated NFC North Odds

The Chicago Bears’ massive trade with the Carolina Panthers and the Green Bay Packers’ potential trade of Aaron Rodgers are reflected in new NFC North odds.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers haven’t finished in last place in the NFC North since 2005. Before that, you’ve got to go back to 1988, when they finished in the cellar of the old NFC Central.

Could a view from the basement be Green Bay’s new reality?

In fresh NFC North odds from FanDuel Sportsbook, which were updated in the wake of the Chicago Bears’ massive trade with the Carolina Panthers and the Packers’ potential trade of star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay has the longest odds to win the division.

When FanDuel released its initial division odds on March 2, the Lions were +180 to win the NFC North, followed by the Packers at +260, Minnesota Vikings at +300 and Chicago Bears at +350.

In the update, the Lions are +145, the Vikings are +280, the Bears are +300 and the Packers are all the way to +410.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Packers are viewed as the worst team in the division. Just that they are deemed the least likely team to win the division.

Indeed, Detroit has the shortest odds to win the Super Bowl at +2500. Green Bay is +2800 – off a bit from +2500 earlier in the week but ahead of Minnesota’s +4000 and Chicago’s +5000.

The Bears made a franchise-defining trade on Friday when they sent the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers. In return, Chicago received first- and second-round picks in 2023 – including the ninth overall selection – a first-round pick in 2024, a second-round pick in 2025 and standout receiver D.J. Moore.

“You go get the guy you want," Panthers GM Scott Fitterer said at the Scouting Combine of potentially trading up for a quarterback. "If you have conviction, you go get him. It's pretty simple that way. If you don't know and you're going to give all these resources to go up and get it, you're hurting your team in the long run. You better be right. You better have conviction if you do move up.”

The Panthers will have their quarterback. The Bears have their quarterback, with the trade putting to rest any possibility of replacing Justin Fields. Now, who will be the Packers’ quarterback?

Presumably, it will be Jordan Love. Team president Mark Murphy on Friday made clear the team’s hopes of trading Rodgers and moving forward with Jordan Love.

“We have a lot of confidence in him,” Murphy said on Friday at the WIAA state girls basketball tournament, which is being played across the street from Lambeau Field. “We drafted him and developed him. A lot of credit goes to our coaches and to Jordan. We do think he’s ready.”

More Green Bay Packers Offseason News

100 Days of Mocks: Six mocks, six first-round tight ends

Murphy discusses Rodgers in past tense

Packers restructure Bakhtiari’s contract

Packers get two compensatory draft picks

Report: Jets optimistic they’re on the ‘brink’ of getting Rodgers

Aaron Jones, LeRoy Butler on Aaron Rodgers and “legacy”

Free agent Stay or Go series: Robert Tonyan

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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