On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed future Hall-of-Famer receiver Julio Jones, but we reported that he didn't change any Bucs futures odds at Caesars Sportsbook or via the SportsLine Projection Model. Well, there has since been a change at Caesars: Tampa Bay has dropped from +750 to +700 to win Super Bowl 57. Maybe no player is more affected by the Jones addition than new Bucs wideout and former Falcon Russell Gage, and there has been some unusually heavy betting action on Gage over the past 24 hours or so.
Since the Jones news broke, a total of seven bets worth at least $1,000 have been placed at Caesars on Gage going Under his season receiving yardage total, which has dropped precipitously from Over/Under 750.5 yards to 575.5, or Under his receiving touchdowns, which has fallen from 4.5 to 3.5.
Just a week ago, it appeared as if Gage would be Tom Brady's No. 2 receiving target when the season started, but then the Bucs added Jones and former Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Rudolph. Additionally, Chris Godwin -- who is recovering from a torn ACL -- is tracking to be ready for Week 1. Tampa Bay opted not to put Godwin on the PUP list to start training camp, but the team is expected to be cautious before letting him practice and is optimistic he will be ready Week 1 at Dallas.
Thus, bettors likely have downgraded Gage to perhaps a No. 4 option behind Mike Evans, Godwin and Jones. Last year in Atlanta, Gage had 66 catches for 770 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games.
While Jones hasn't been great the past two seasons, in large part because of injuries, he leads the NFL in receiving yards since 2014 (10,593) and Evans leads the NFL in touchdown catches (75). There aren't any season totals posted for Jones yet, but he's +7500 to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Godwin is +2500.
The Bucs' first training camp workout was this morning.
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