Oddsmakers view NFC East rivals Jay Gruden and Pat Shurmur as big favorites to be the first coaches to lose their jobs this season.
Gruden and the Washington Redskins have an over-under win total of 6.5 at PointsBet and the 52-year-old is coming off of back-to-back 7-9 seasons. He’s 35-44-1 since being hired in 2014. Gruden began the 2018 season with the fifth-highest odds to be fired.
Washington has just one playoff appearance under Gruden, and his relationship with the front office doesn’t scream kumbaya.
The Redskins are +900 to win the NFC East, per PointsBet.
Shurmur begins Year 2 with the New York Giants following a rocky offseason pointed to a rebuild, including trades of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and defensive end Olivier Vernon, then drafting the heir to Eli Manning — Daniel Jones — at No. 6 overall. The Giants’ over-under of 6 wins this season portends a rough season ahead.
The Giants are +1500 to win the division at PointsBet.
Gruden is the favorite at +300 according to Bovada to be the first coach fired in 2019.
Shurmur (+700) is not far behind and the Detroit Lions’ Matt Patricia (+1000), Houston Texans’ Bill O’Brien (+1200) and Atlanta Falcons’ Dan Quinn (+1200) are just ahead of three coaches with seemingly reasonable playoff expectations all tied at +1500: the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Doug Marrone, Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys and Mike Zimmer of the Minnesota Vikings.
Next are New York Jets head coach Adam Gase (+2000) and first-year Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores (+2000).
Hue Jackson was the No. 1 candidate to be fired entering the 2018 season at Caesars sportsbook. He was let go in October as head coach of the Browns.
