Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and first-year New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers are friends.
The two starred at LSU over the past couple seasons and have enjoyed a tremendous on-field relationship. Said relationship is one of the reasons Daniels was selected No. 2 overall with Nabers being the sixth pick.
These two are also considered early favorites to comes away with the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Speaking on a recent The Pivot podcast, Daniels and Nabers made what seemed to be an innocent bet about who would come away with the award (h/t Pro Football Talk).
At issue here is that said bet would force the loser to pay out $10,000, creating a potential conflict with the NFL’s archaic gambling policy.
As PFT notes, this is a violation of said policy.
“It includes commercial gambling (whether for profit, charity or anything else) that involves third parties (e.g., bookies, dealers, ‘the house’), as well as private wagers between teammates, family and friends, or others.”
Related: Top reactions to the Washington Commanders picking Jayden Daniels at two
Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers bet and issues with the NFL gambling policy
We’ve seen multiple NFL players suspended in the past for betting on games. Some bet on actual NFL matchups, which should be widely known as a violation of the league’s policy. Others were suspended for betting on college football games while they were at a team facility.
That’s the problem with this policy. Sure, players are obligated to read it. But the policy itself is broad in scope.
This also comes amid a modern sports culture in which professional sports leagues are buddying up to sportsbooks and oddsmakers, creating more issues in the process.
As for Daniels and Nabers, they’ll be just fine. The NFL will likely send them a note to scrap the bet. But that doesn’t mean we won’t see further issues down the road.
