National Football League

Best early NFL bets to make now: Bears, Colts to win their divisions

Updated May. 1, 2024 8:58 a.m. ET

Co-Host of THE HERD and FOX Sports Betting Analyst

The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone, so that means one thing: It's time to start looking ahead to our futures bets for the upcoming season.

The draft grades are in, and for the second season in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles cleaned up, especially on the defensive side.

However, there's another team in the NFC North that I'm sprinkling some early money on.

In the AFC, you have the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs, along with perennial contenders in Baltimore, Buffalo and Cincinnati, but I like a younger team in the South to make some noise this season.

So, without further ado, let's dive into a few early bets I'm making right now to get the party started after the draft.

Buy Bears +265 to win NFC North (bet $10 to win $36.50 total)

Is this the best time to buy the Bears? Probably not, especially after the monster draft they just had. But they did win seven games last year in a season where Tyson Bagent started at quarterback in four of them.

Last year they had Justin Fields, one star wideout, a solid offensive line and not much else. The offense should be dramatically improved this season, with the additions of Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze at receiver, and, of course, Caleb Williams under center.

The addition of Montez Sweat immediately made an impact last year, and the team already was solid at linebacker and corner, not to mention the two playmakers at safety.

Again, this comes down to the schedule for me.

The Bears will go on the road to face four QBs in their first or second seasons, and then, will get four more (Patriots, Panthers, Titans, Vikings) at home.

When half of your games are against inexperienced QBs, you’re going to have a chance to do some things. More importantly, help us cash these bets.

If you are worried about the Lions, Over 8.5 wins would be another bet to consider to get some money down on the Bears.

What are the expectations for Caleb Williams and the Bears?

Buy Colts +340 to win AFC South (bet $10 to win $44 total)

Yes, the division suddenly got difficult, with the Houston Texans and C.J. Stroud on top of the standings last year, and Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars lurking.

But QB Anthony Richardson was dynamic when healthy as a rookie, and he returns to an offense with a healthy Jonathan Taylor, along with the addition of explosive rookie WR Adonai Mitchell.

And on defense, the Colts front is very formidable.

I'm using the same strategy here I did above with the Bears. The Colts may potentially face eight quarterbacks who are in their first or second season. The only non-division road opponent that made the playoffs last year? The Green Bay Packers.

The Broncos, Giants, Patriots and Vikings are among the teams with the lowest season win totals. When it is all said and done, this should be a 9-10 win team, so Over 8.5 wins might be another bet I'd consider here.

Jason McIntyre is a FOX Sports betting analyst, and he also writes about the NFL and NBA Draft. He joined FS1 in 2016 and has appeared on every show on the network. In 2017, McIntyre began producing gambling content on the NFL, college football and NBA for FOX Sports. He had a gambling podcast for FOX, "Coming Up Winners," in 2018 and 2019. Before arriving at FOX, he created the website The Big Lead, which he sold in 2010. Follow him @jasonrmcintyre.