Caleb Harris
Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers decided not to test the NFL’s gambling policy.
The two rookies made headlines this week after it became public that they had decided to place a $10,000 bet on who would be the rookie of the year. However, that bet is off. Apparently, the two rookies were informed about the NFL’s gambling policy sometime in the last 24 hours and after learning the details of the policy, Nabers and Daniels decided to cancel the bet.
The drama surrounding the bet began this week after Daniels made a interview on the podcast “All the facts, no brakes”. During that appearance, the Commanders quarterback, who was selected with the second overall pick, revealed that he had made a $10,000 bet with his former LSU teammate about who would win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
When Daniels asked host Keyshawn Johnson about the bet, he clearly didn’t feel very comfortable talking about the subject.
“Man, he shouldn’t tell anyone,” Daniels said, before admitting, “We have a little something going on.”
It seems the only reason Daniels was willing to talk about it is because Nabers had already mentioned the bet on another podcast.
“I mean, he put it out there, so it’s like I can’t say he was on edge,” Daniels said.
The bet became public at the end of April, after Nabers joined the podcast “The Pivot” shortly after being drafted by the Giants with the sixth overall pick. During that conversation, Nabers said the bet involved $10,000 in cash.
“Going against him is going to be fun,” Nabers said of playing against Daniels, via New York Daily News. “We made a bet for Rookie of the Year. Whoever loses has to pay, I think it’s $10,000 in cash.”
The reason this has become a problem is because gamblers shouldn’t bet on anything involving the NFL. If Nabers walked into a sportsbook and bet $10,000 on himself to win rookie of the year, he would face a long suspension. Placing a bet with another player is not the same thing, but it would likely violate the NFL’s gambling policy, which prohibits all personnel to bet on the NFL.
“All NFL personnel are prohibited from placing, soliciting, or facilitating any bet, whether directly or through a third party, on any NFL game, practice, or other event (e.g., draft or combine),” the policy states.
If Nabers and Daniels made the bet before the draft, they could argue that the NFL’s gambling policy didn’t apply to them since they weren’t technically in the NFL yet, but instead of going that route, the two did the safe decision to simply cancel the bet.
Both Nabers and Daniels are viewed as a top-six favorite in the preseason rookie of the year odds. Here’s a look at the current odds for the prize (via BetMGM):
While Nabers has longer odds, he can actually bet that it’s a safer bet and that’s because Daniels will have to win the starting QB job in Washington before he can be considered a viable candidate to win it. Right now, he’s not 100% sure if he’ll be the Week 1 starter.
“Am I anticipating (from Week 1)? I mean, I’m confident in my abilities, but that’s a decision they need to make,” Daniels said. said Keyshawn during the same podcast. “That’s above me.”
With Daniels on the Commanders and Nabers on the Giants, the two rookies will face each other twice in 2024. They’ll find out when those games will take place when 2024 NFL schedule will be released on May 15.
