2026 NFL Awards Odds: Bet on MVP, OPOY, DPOY & More
BetNow carries betting markets on every major Associated Press NFL awards category: MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year.
AP voting happens at the end of the regular season, before the playoffs begin, but the results stay sealed until the NFL Honors ceremony during Super Bowl week each February.
That gap between voting and the public announcement is also roughly when sportsbooks open NFL awards odds for the following season, giving bettors a few months of room to find value before the picture comes into focus.
This page breaks down how award betting works and links to detailed odds for each market below.
How NFL Awards Betting Works
Award bets fall under NFL futures betting: you lock in a price now on an outcome that won’t be decided for months, and the bet doesn’t grade until the Honors ceremony in early February. Anyone who decides to bet early is committing that stake for the long haul, with no way out if the player or coach they backed has a rough October.
Pricing uses standard American odds, the same as a moneyline. A player at +400 to win MVP returns $500 on a $100 bet — $400 profit. A favorite at -200 works the other way: risk $200 to win $100. The only real difference from a game line is that the “game” is an entire season.
These numbers move on performance, injuries, and how the voting narrative is shaping up — not on a single final score. A quarterback who misses a month with an injury usually sees his number collapse almost overnight, while a defender stacking sacks and forcing turnovers tends to climb.
A strong game shortens a player’s odds, so betting right after that game and before the books reprice it locks in the longer number. An injury works the other way: the front-runner’s price gets worse, and the value shifts to whoever’s chances just improved, before the market catches up to that, too. That’s where the NFL award futures actually sits.
2026 NFL Awards Odds at BetNow
NFL MVP
MVP is the most-watched individual award in football, voted on by the Associated Press and given to the season’s most outstanding player. Quarterbacks have taken home the trophy in the overwhelming majority of recent seasons, and that lean toward the position is the single biggest factor shaping the odds for this market. Those who bet on NFL awards before training camp, while the board is still wide open and a clear favorite hasn’t emerged, typically find the better long-shot prices.
[See full NFL MVP odds]
NFL Offensive Player of the Year
OPOY goes to the league’s best offensive player regardless of position, a distinction that separates it from MVP even though the two awards often overlap. In recent seasons the trophy has gone to skill-position players outside the quarterback spot just as often as to a passer, which keeps this race more open than MVP’s. Because the NFL awards odds for these two markets frequently chase the same handful of names early, watching where their lines diverge can flag value before it’s obvious.
[See full NFL OPOY odds]
NFL Defensive Player of the Year
DPOY, also an AP vote, goes to the league’s top defensive player. It’s historically the hardest of the major awards to call — winners rotate more freely than at MVP, and names outside the early favorites win it on a regular basis. That unpredictability is exactly why NFL awards betting odds on DPOY tend to offer the sharpest value for bettors willing to look past the obvious names before a front-runner takes hold.
[See full NFL DPOY odds]
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
OROY recognizes the top first-year offensive player in the league, as judged by the AP panel. Wide receivers have won the award in two of the last three seasons, but the race still fluctuates between quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers — no single position locks up the race the way quarterbacks dominate MVP. Preseason NFL award odds posted before a single camp snap carry the widest spread, and first-round picks at quarterback and receiver draw the heaviest early action and move the fastest.
[See full NFL OROY odds]
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year
The DROY award goes to the best first-year defensive player and is announced each year at NFL Honors alongside the league’s other major awards. Edge rushers and linebackers have combined to win the award in most recent seasons, a useful filter when sizing up candidates. The DROY market runs thinner and less public than OROY, which means mispriced long shots turn up more often, making it a strong market for bettors who follow preseason camp reporting.
[See full NFL DROY odds]
NFL Coach of the Year
Coach of the Year, voted by the AP, recognizes the regular season’s most outstanding head coach. Voters consistently reward turnaround stories over raw win totals — a staff that takes a team from four wins to twelve usually becomes a near-automatic candidate, regardless of the final record. That turnaround pattern makes odds for NFL awards like COTY some of the easiest to find value in early — betting the coach of the most-improved team before the narrative locks in tends to pay off.
[See full NFL Coach of the Year odds]
What Drives NFL Award Odds
Team success carries more weight than raw stats for several of these markets. MVP and Coach of the Year voters lean heavily toward candidates from winning teams — a quarterback posting big numbers on a five-win roster rarely cracks the conversation no matter how the box score reads, so checking a team’s preseason NFL win totals line before locking in a bet is worth the extra step.
Voters are human, and narrative momentum matters as much as the stat sheet. A player who takes over the final six weeks of a tight playoff race tends to outpoll someone who was dominant back in September and faded since, so it pays to track when a player’s story is building rather than just when the box score peaks — that’s often where NFL awards odds still lag the reality on the field.
Injuries reshuffle NFL awards betting boards instantly. One significant injury to a front-runner can collapse their price within a single news cycle and open value elsewhere, which makes the injury report through October and November just as worth watching as the box scores — by the time a line moves publicly on NFL award favorites, the value is often already gone.
Bet on NFL Awards at BetNow
BetNow carries NFL betting markets on all six major AP categories covered above, updated throughout the regular season as performances, injuries, and team records shift the board.
Markets stay open from the day voting lines launch through the playoffs, whether you’re tracking early NFL award predictions or waiting for a clearer picture to form.
Create an account at BetNow to bet on the National Football League MVP, OPOY, DPOY, and the rest of this year’s award races.
[Bet NFL Awards Now]
NFL Awards Betting — Frequently Asked Questions
When do NFL award odds open?
The odds typically go live within days of the prior ceremony, so books post early numbers before free agency or the draft even start. Markets shift continuously from there through the playoffs, until the next NFL Honors ceremony closes the books.
Which NFL award is hardest to predict?
Defensive Player of the Year is generally the toughest AP award to call. Winners change often, candidates outside the preseason top tier take the trophy regularly, and no single team or scheme dominates voting the way quarterbacks dominate the betting odds for MVP.
Do NFL award bets include playoff performance?
No. All six AP awards, and the odds tied to them, are decided using regular-season performance only. Anything that happens in the postseason has no bearing on MVP, OPOY, DPOY, or the other markets, since AP ballots are finalized before the playoffs begin.
Can I parlay multiple NFL award bets?
Some sportsbooks allow same-category parlays on award futures, though rules vary by book. Combining multiple NFL player awards odds into one bet raises the payout but also the risk, since every leg has to land for the parlay to pay out.