How to bet NFL division winners in 2026: Ranking my eight best bets and each division by best value

If you like taking underdogs to win the division, the 2025 NFL season was for you. Of the eight favorites to win the division when we ran this ranking of division winner best bets prior to last season, only one (Eagles) took home the division title, and twice as many (Bears, Seahawks) winners were the longest shots in their division. 

Besides Philadelphia, the other seven division winners all had a best price of more than +300 when we ran through this article, and while we took some risks -- including having the Broncos at +350 as our second-best division winner pick on the entire board -- we should've been even riskier.

Should we expect the unexpected again in 2026? It depends on what you consider "unexpected." The market is only favoring one team (again, the Eagles) to repeat as division champs in 2026, with a majority of divisions ordered how you might expect if 2025 didn't happen at all. 

The Bills and Ravens are again considered the class of their respective divisions, the Chiefs are atop a close AFC West race, and the Lions and Bucs are back as favorites in the NFC despite disappointing seasons. That's before we even get to the NFC West, where an exciting offseason for the Rams has put the Seahawks as afterthoughts despite their Super Bowl title.

The answer for me is a blend of expected and unexpected. I'm going to put more weight on what happened last year than the market apparently will, but that doesn't mean eschewing all favorites, as I have four as the top bets to back in their division at the best odds among DraftKings, BetMGM and Caesars for each team. 

I'm also going to mix in a few extreme longshots as the best divisional values, with one available at longer than +500 odds. After I share my division winner best bet rankings, taking just one team per division, I'll rank and break down each division separately so you can see which teams I think are worth considering and which are complete stay-aways.

So which teams are the best value bets to win the division? And which of the eight is actually worth backing the most? ... Join SportsLine here to see R.J. White's NFL division winner best bet rankings for 2026!