Antonio Brown suspension shocks NFL, affects Oakland Raiders odds everywhere

The NFL season began Thursday night as the league celebrated its 100th anniversary season with the Green Bay Packers visiting the Chicago Bears in a continuation of the NFL's oldest rivalry. No way anything football-related could overshadow that on Thursday, right? Wrong. The silly summer of Antonio Brown continues.

Adam Schefter broke the news early Thursday afternoon that the Raiders were expected to suspend Brown for a confrontation he apparently had with Raiders general manager Mike Mayock. You may remember early this week when Brown posted on Instagram a letter Mayock had sent Brown informing him of $54,000 in fines for unexcused absences Brown had during training camp/preseason because of his helmet nonsense. Brown and Mayock allegedly had a verbal confrontation at practice on Wednesday – with Brown threatening to hit Mayock at one point and being held back by teammates. That was the last straw for Mayock and the team's real boss, Coach Jon Gruden.

As of this writing no length of suspension has been announced. Oakland's home game Monday night against Denver had been a pick'em but that line's moving quickly now. Most sportsbooks shifted Denver to -2 and SportsLine simulations have the Broncos moving all the way to -2.5 if Brown is indeed suspended for Monday. Early sharp action had been on Oakland.

There are potentially long-term ramifications here as well. A suspension for conduct detrimental could mean Brown loses his $30 million in guaranteed money and obviously his days as a Raider would be over. Think Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers are having a good laugh right now? The Steelers only got third- and fifth-round picks for Brown, but that could end up being a steal.

Oakland's win total had been set at 6 on the NFL futures odds. SportsLine projections had the Raiders finishing with 5.4 wins but would drop to an even 5.0 if Brown doesn't play a regular-season game. Oakland's No. 1 receiver without Brown would be free-agent addition Tyrell Williams, who has 155 catches in his NFL career for 2,530 yards. Brown has 837 for 11,207 yards.

Thus, those NFL bettors who went under the 6-win total are potentially smiling big today as well. Those who selected Brown in the second or third round of fantasy drafts definitely aren't. Sadly, HBO's "Hard Knocks" is over for 2019. 

So which teams should you back in Week 1 of the NFL season? And which Super Bowl contender goes down hard? ... Join SportsLine here to see which teams are winning more than 50 percent of simulations, all from the model that has returned over $7,000 on its top-rated picks!