NFL betting: Russell Wilson is the most popular MVP bet so far

All 32 training camps across the NFL are now officially open for business. It's officially time to start preparing for the upcoming season. The Hall Of Fame preseason game is next week. It's go time.

The opening of training camp gives us the opportunity to see how new players are adjusting to their new teams. Plenty of stars have changed teams over the offseason, including Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Matt Ryan, Deshaun Watson, Baker Mayfield, Amari Cooper, Von Miller, Khalil Mack and a litany of other big names that dominate our fall Sundays.

However, there's one player suiting up for a new team this season that bettors at BetMGM are particularly interested in. The most popular bet to win NFL MVP so far this offseason has been the new quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Russell Wilson.

Bettors love Russell Wilson

In early March, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks consummated a trade that sent Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. In exchange, the Seahawks received three players and five draft picks. It was one of the bigger trades in NFL history. Immediately, NFL fans took notice.

Over the past few seasons, the Broncos have been considered a team that was "a quarterback away." They had a solid defense and an intriguing group of weapons headlined by Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon. It was clearly a team with potential that was being held back by the likes of Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater over the past few seasons.

After acquiring Wilson, the Broncos' odds for the upcoming season moved swiftly. They are currently 16-to-1 to win the Super Bowl, which ranks seventh amongst all teams. They are +850 to win the AFC, which are the third-best odds. Not bad for a team that didn't even make the playoffs last season. The last two Super Bowl champions won with a quarterback in his first year on the team. Broncos fans hope Russell Wilson can do what Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady accomplished.

With Wilson expected to be the main impetus behind a sizable turnaround for the Broncos, it should be no surprise that he's a popular bet to win the NFL MVP. Currently, Wilson is 14-to-1 to win the MVP award. Those odds are tied with Stafford for the eighth best. Up until this point, nobody has received more MVP bets than the Broncos' quarterback. As of Tuesday morning at BetMGM, Wilson has received almost 19% of MVP bets and nearly 18% of the total money wagered for the market.

The logic is certainly there to make this an appealing bet. However, despite winning a Super Bowl and accomplishing great things with Seattle, Wilson has famously never received a single MVP vote in his entire career. Bettors are certainly hoping that will change this upcoming season.

Other popular MVP bets

What other players are popular bets to win MVP this upcoming season? Let's check out the rest of the top five.

• Josh Allen (+700): Josh Allen enters the 2022 NFL season as the betting favorite to win MVP, as his Buffalo Bills enter are the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl. Detractors will say that he's without Brian Daboll now, who played a large part in developing him. He also wasn't consistently as good last season as he was in 2020. However, he's shown time and time again over the past few years that he's certainly one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Allen is the second-most popular bet to win NFL MVP, receiving just over 14% of the bets.

• Tom Brady (+800): Tom Brady looked like he was going to win the MVP last season, but Aaron Rodgers overtook him in the final few weeks of the season. After retiring for a few weeks, Brady decided to return. The Buccaneers just added Julio Jones. They'll be one of the top teams in the league again, it appears. At this point, if you haven't learned, Tom Brady is always a good bet. Almost 8% of bettors are living life with that motto.

• Justin Herbert (+900): Justin Herbert is my preseason NFL MVP pick, and it appears 7.6% of the betting public agrees with me, making him the fourth-most popular bet in terms of number of bets. Notably, Herbert is receiving 17.2% of the betting handle, which means he's getting some of the larger bets. Only Wilson has received more money backing them than Herbert.

• Jalen Hurts (25-to-1): Jalen Hurts is currently the fifth-most popular MVP bet at BetMGM, and a lot of that probably has to do with the odds that were available earlier in the winter. Hurts was 50-to-1 and 40-to-1 to win MVP earlier this offseason, and a lot of bettors snatched up that number. The Eagles are improved and look dangerous, and those were some pretty appealing odds for a mobile quarterback with good talent around him.

Other notable names include:

• Aaron Rodgers has won back-to-back NFL MVP awards, but bettors aren't feeling a three-peat. At +900, Rodgers is tied with Herbert for the fourth-best odds. However, just 2.1% of bets are backing Rodgers which makes him the 14th-most popular bet. He trails the likes of Tua Tagovailoa, Trey Lance (who is an intriguing name) and Deshaun Watson.

• Another surprising name getting little love is Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs quarterback is tied with Brady for the second-best odds at +800, but he too is getting less than 3% of the betting action. He enters a season without Tyreek Hill for the first time, but I would have expected him to be a more popular bet.

• In terms of non-quarterbacks, the three most popular bets are Derrick Henry (50-to-1), Jonathan Taylor (50-to-1) and Christian McCaffrey (150-to-1).