Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers Call Off $10,000 Offensive ROY Bet After Sports Betting "Education"

Just days after former LSU teammates Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers revealed they made a $10,000 wager on which of them will win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2024, the recent top draft picks have called off the bet.

The NFL reportedly addressed the bet, which the two disclosed during two separate media appearances. Nabers first mentioned it during "The Pivot" podcast and Daniels confirmed it on the "All Facts No Brakes" podcast.

"We were uneducated on the gambling policy in the NFL," Daniels said. "We learned about it last night. Me and him had a conversation and we canceled the bet. Obviously, we don't want to get in trouble, so we're focused on being the best players for our respective teams."

"I'm educated now that I got here about sports betting and gambling," Nabers added during his first official practice last week at rookie minicamp. "So we're calling the bet off. There is no bet now. It was just another brother pushing another brother to try to get to success. That is all it was."

NFL betting policy

Despite the fact the bet was a friendly wager between the two and not made at any of the best sports betting sites, the NFL still made it a point of emphasis to address it and educate the pair on the league's policy.

The league's policy states that NFL personnel are prohibited from placing any bet that includes the outcome of a game, statistics, the score, or individual performance.

Interestingly, though, the 2022 policy stated that players also weren't allowed to conduct "private wagers between teammates, family and friends, or others." However, that portion wasn't included in the revised 2023 policy, so it doesn't appear Daniels and Nabers actually broke any rules.

Too high-profile?

It's possible that most of the backlash is due to the fact that both players were high draft picks in this year's NFL draft. 

The Washington Commanders selected Daniels with the second overall pick, and Nabers landed with the New York Giants only a few picks later at No. 6 overall.

It appears Daniels wanted to keep the friendly wager a little more low-key.

"Man, he wasn't supposed to tell nobody," Daniels said of the bet. "We got a little something going on."

The NFL's quick response is likely due to sports betting becoming a major issue among multiple professional sports leagues recently, with Toronto Raptors role player Jontay Porter being suspended for life by the NBA and Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, pleading guilty to bank and tax fraud related to money he used to gamble on sports.

Additionally, it likely didn't help matters that the players involved are considered two future stars in the league.

Daniels and Nabers played together at LSU, with the former winning the 2023 Heisman Trophy and the latter serving as his top receiving threat.