Well, that didn’t last long.
The friendly bet between former LSU teammates Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers is now off.
The argument between them over who would win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award this season. But on Friday, after Nabers attended rookie minicamp with the New York Giants and learned the details of the NFL’s betting policy, he revealed that the bet was off. It’s unclear whether the bet would have violated that policy, but the two are taking no chances.
“Now that I’m here, I have knowledge about sports betting and gambling,” Nabers said Friday. . “So we called off the bet. Now there’s no bet. It was just another brother pushing another brother to try to be successful. That’s all.”
The NFL’s betting policy prohibits all players and league personnel from “placing, soliciting or facilitating any wagers, whether directly or through a third party,” on any NFL game or league activity. That includes bets on specific games, player accessories, and more. Under the 2022 policy, “private betting between teammates, family and friends or other persons” was also prohibited; however, this was not included in last year’s policy.
So, since the bet was, at best, in a gray area for the former Tigers stars, they called it off.
Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy last season at LSU, was drafted by the Washington Commanders with . He threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns last season and completed more than 72% of his passes.
drafted to the Giants, he had 1,569 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns last season at LSU. He accounted for about 41% of Daniels’ passing yards and averaged nearly 18 yards per catch. his four-year, $29.2 million rookie contract on Friday.
“When I put my name on that piece of paper, I was kind of shaking a little bit,” Nabers said. . “And I was excited because the work is not done but it is another stage in my life. For me to get to this part of my life, part of my journey, it was a pat on the back at that moment.”
The two are certainly frontrunners to win Offensive Rookie of the Year this fall, although they are well behind Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who is the .
Only time will tell if Nabers or Daniels can outdo Williams to win the award. Now, however, they will have to achieve it without any additional motivation.