Woo-hoo! Football is back! Wealth managers offer their NFL picks

Are you financial advisors ready for some football?

The NFL season is back baby! The league’s first full slate of games kicks off this weekend following last night’s 27-20 win by the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs over the Baltimore Ravens.

And like a last-second game-winning touchdown, the 2024 season could not arrive at a more opportune time with stocks starting to buckle after more than a year of solid gains.

Come on wealth managers. Admit it. That few minutes of idle chatter with a client about, say, the Detroit Lions makes it much easier for you to slide into the much tougher discussion about why their large cap tech stocks are getting thrown to the market’s proverbial lions.

Or perhaps your client is irate about having to raid their 401(k) to pay for a child’s ludicrous college tuition right when their portfolio is down? That's an uncomfortable conversation for sure.

No problem! Ease into it. Talk about the Las Vegas Raiders first! Soften them up before you hit them with the hard stuff about early withdrawal fees.

Let’s be honest. Until sports betting became legal, that’s what professional football games were for anyway, right? A chance to spend Sundays away from your kids and small talk fodder at work. That’s it. Nothing else.

Seriously folks, the S&P 500 is down over 3 percent in the past week. Even the NY Jets are safer to talk about than stocks right now. So with all that in mind, InvestmentNews reached out to a handful of former college and professional football players turned wealth managers to get their picks for the upcoming NFL season.

Matthew Tarullo is an investment advisor representative at Cetera Investors, as well as a former Syracuse University standout guard who signed with Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. Tarullo was released by “America’s Team” in 2006 and then played on the New York “football” Giants practice squad for a spell before moving onto a career in wealth management.   

Tarullo sees the Philadelphia Eagles eventually winning it all in a hard-fought match up against the Chiefs.

“The Eagles have an awesome offensive line and a great running back. They also have a solid receiver crew plus a star-studded defense,” said Tarullo.

Speaking of the Eagles, Mike Martin, above right, wealth advisor and director at MAI Capital Management, ended his career with Philadelphia in 2016 after spending a number of years in Nashville with the Tennessee Titans. Martin was a third-round selection by the Titans out of the University of Michigan in the 2012 draft. Now he is drafting the Detroit Lions to win the Super Bowl in 2025.

“This beaten down, yet resilient team is poised for huge upside,” said Martin. “Coming off the best season they've had since the 1950s last year, this team won't be denied. After decades of disappointment, the leadership, culture, and winning philosophy is back with Dan Campbell and company.”

Added Martin, in true financial speak: “Don't let past performance predict future outcomes, especially in this situation.”

Meanwhile, Brandon Wilson, above left, an analyst at WFA and seven year NFL veteran, says he is going with the team that drafted him to take home the Vince Lombardi trophy: The Cincinnati Bengals.

“Joe Burrow is poised, accurate, and his leadership at quarterback paired with a new and improved offensive line helps a ton,” said Wilson. “Picking up Trent Brown and Orlando Brown Jr. will make a huge impact in giving Burrow more time to make plays and keep him healthy, especially in deep playoff runs.”

On the defensive side, Wilson believes Vonn Bell, Mike Hilton, Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson lead a defense that can dominate.

“This unit has shown its ability to pressure quarterbacks and execute in critical moments, making them playoff-ready,” said Wilson.

Finally, Steve Vujevich, founding partner at Advocus Private Wealth and former (“The”) Ohio State University running back, predicts the Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl this year. And the major reason in his opinion is quarterback Jordan Love. 

“I think the Packers got it right with picking him given his skillset and how he sees the field, plus he has an arm and legs. I tend to think of him as the Nvidia (Ticker: NVDA) of the Green Bay Packers,” said Vujevich.

Added Vujevich: “With the additions of Josh Jacobs and Xaiver McKinney, the Pack have added some more offense and defense to their portfolio. The Packers will count on Jacobs and his ball carrying and catching ability so that adds a little extra alpha to the overall offense portion of the portfolio, if you will.  And, all investors need some defense and that's why they added McKinney plus their new Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hafley.”