Oddsmakers still feel good about the Patriots’ Super Bowl chances in 2020 despite their offseason uncertainty

The New England Patriots are entering one of the biggest offseasons in recent memory, with numerous key players headed for unrestricted free agency. But while Joe Thuney, Kyle Van Noy, Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater have all been foundational-level players over the last few seasons, one name obviously stands above them: Tom Brady, who is scheduled to hit the open market for the first time in his legendary career as the Patriots’ quarterback.

While the expectation is that Brady eventually returns to New England after all, an element of uncertainty surrounds the organization as it heads into 2020 — from the long list of free agents, to questions about the coaching staff, to the status of an offense that struggled for much of the 2019 season. Despite all that, however, oddsmakers still feel confident in the Patriots as a look at the latest Super Bowl odds illustrates (via BetOnline.ag).

Only three teams — including, of course, the newly-crowned world champions — currently are given better chances at winning the 55th Super Bowl next February:

Kansas City Chiefs: 5/1

San Francisco 49ers: 7/1

Baltimore Ravens: 8/1

New England Patriots: 9/1

With the 2019 season just having ended on Sunday, these odds are little more than an educated guess about how the season will unfold — too much could and will happen before the Chiefs kick off the 2020 campaign in early September, after all. However, the numbers still show how high the expectations for the Patriots are even though they are “only” the number three team in the AFC when it comes to Super Bowl chances at the moment.

The new Super Bowl winners, the title-game runner-ups and the team lead by the new NFL MVP are the only three clubs to have better odds at winning next year’s championship than a New England squad that is facing an offseason of uncertainty. It goes to show just how ridiculously high the bar has been set by the Patriots throughout the years, considering that this should not be seen as a surprise even with Brady headed for free agency.