owl from states other than Nevada for the first time Sunday James White Jerseys Stitched , with the excitement spreading from Las Vegas to as far as Rhode Island.Sunday's big game was the first major sporting event for sportsbooks in a handful of states that opened after the U.S. Supreme Court in May struck down a ban on sports betting. People lined up at sportsbooks starting Sunday morning, picking between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams as well as a wide variety of other outcomes, from heads or tails in the opening coin toss to whether Tom Brady would throw an interception."I love to bet, and I like the atmosphere here," Celina Montenegro, a resident of Austin, Texas, said while waiting for the game to start at the Westgate casino-hotel in Las Vegas. "They say this is the best place to watch the game other than being at the game." This was the third Super Bowl that the Dallas Cowboys fan spent in Las Vegas. She picked the Rams as the winner this time.The Patriots defeated the Rams 13-3.Nevada's effective monopoly on sports betting ended last spring, when the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on that form of gambling. Casinos in seven other states — Rhode Island, Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Mexico — now accept wagers on sports. The list is expected to grow by next year.Lawmakers in at least 24 states have introduced or publicly contemplated sports betting bills already this year. The proposals range from allowing charities to offer sports betting at fundraisers in North Dakota to full sportsbooks with online wagers allowed in states including Kansas and Massachusetts.In Rhode Island, the only state in the New England that has legalized sports betting, two casinos took plenty of wagers on the Patriots since posting the odds on their boards. Several people placing bets in that state for the Super Bowl this week said they've wagered on sports in Las Vegas in the past.Jaymes Peckham went to Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island http://www.patriotslocke...entic-josh-gordon-jersey , with his roommate and wagered about $100 on which team will win the coin toss and other proposition bets, which are wagers offered on unique and various outcomes. He said he likes having a place to bets on sports so close to his home in Central Falls, Rhode Island."It's nice and I'm definitely all for it, as far as tax revenue is concerned," Peckham, 27, said. "It's unique. I also think in future years, it'll give people more of a reason to watch the games."If he didn't have a place to bet on the Super Bowl close to home, Peckham said he may have bet on the outcome of the Super Bowl with his friends. He said he knows people who use bookies and betting websites but he does not.In Las Vegas, the Westgate and the sportsbooks operated by Caesars Entertainment, including at the Linq casino-hotel, had the Patriots as 2 1/2-point favorite.Joel Mallari, of Tustin, California, made arrangements for a trip to Las Vegas with a friend after the game was set. They chose to watch the game at the Linq's newly renovated sportsbook and put money on the Rams to win as well as on proposition and parlay bets."We are here to make money and enjoy the game," Mallari said enthusiastically as he looked through a set of legal-size sheets with all the available wagers."Betting makes things a little more exciting, even small figures Antonio Garcia Jersey ," his friend, Eric Alvarez of Riverside, California, said. New England brought the veteran linebacker back into the fold."WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementNFL Free AgencyPatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots Free Agency CoverageWhat re-signing linebacker Jamie Collins means for the PatriotsNew,124commentsRead more: Patriots re-sign linebacker Jamie CollinsEDTShareTweetShareShareWhat re-signing linebacker Jamie Collins means for the PatriotsKevin Jairaj-USA TODAY SportsEarlier today, the New England Patriots brought a familiar face back into the fold: the team reportedly re-signed linebacker Jamie Collins, who started his NFL career as a Patriots second-round draft pick in 2013 and appeared in a combined 57 regular season and playoff games for the club. After two and a half years with the Cleveland Browns, Collins now returns to the team with which he won the Super Bowl in 2014.Let’s find out what adding the 29-year-old means, especially for a Patriots defense that appears to be pretty deep at this point in time.New England has a plan in mind for CollinsDuring his first stint in New England, the Patriots used Collins in various ways to take advantage of his outstanding athletic skills: he rushed the passer, he dropped into coverage against tight ends, he aligned on the strong side and the weak side of the formation. It remains to be seen whether or not the Patriots will employ him in similar fashion now, but one thing seems certain: they do have a plan for him in mind and think his presence could improve the defense, or otherwise Collins would not have been brought back.Collins gives the Patriots flexibilityNew England has a versatile group of linebackers under contract: Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy are jack-of-all-trade options capable of playing on the line and in space, Elandon Roberts improved noticeably as a coverage defender in 2018, and Ja’Whaun Bentley showed promise both against the run and the pass last year. Adding Collins to this group gives the Patriots defense even more flexibility given his own versatility: he adds depth and experience behind top options Hightower and Van Noy, and takes pressure off Bentley coming back from a season-ending biceps injury.Jerod Mayo and the Patriots defense get a familiar face to work withThe Patriots’ new inside linebackers coach knows his team’s latest signing pretty well: Mayo and Collins played alongside each other from 2013 to 2015 Womens Julian Edelman Jersey , which means that the former should have a pretty clear picture of the latter’s strengths and weaknesses — and how to best work with them. In general, Collins is an experienced option after having appeared in 57 games for New England before he was shipped off to Cleveland midway through the 2016 season. He should be able to get up to speed rather quickly given his familiarity with the scheme and its terminology.The salary cap likely won’t be impacted too muchWhen the Browns signed Collins to a four-year, $50 million contract in early 2017, they paid top dollar for one of the NFL’s most intriguing linebackers. Since then, Collins’ status has changed quite a bit: after two inconsistent and injury-riddled years in Cleveland, he spent more than two months on the open market before getting picked up by the Patriots. Needless to say that the team likely did not overpay to get its hands on its former second-round investment once again.Last year’s trade rumors were not unfoundedAhead of last year’s trade deadline, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported that the Patriots were having internal discussions about potentially re-acquiring Jamie Collins from the Browns. Those talks did obviously not reach a point at which the club felt prompted to pull the trigger. However, today’s news pretty much confirms Howe’s report from last October — and that the Patriots have had their eyes on Collins for quite some time now.The Patriots will need to make a corresponding roster moveAs things stand right now, the Patriots have a full offseason roster: 90 men are under contract with the club, which means that it will need to make a corresponding move once Collins officially gets brought back. There are plenty of candidates to get the axe in favor of the veteran linebacker — from undrafted rookie signings like offensive linemen Tyree St. Louis or Tyler Gauthier to depth linebacker Calvin Munson.Collins is no roster lockWhile Collins is a big-name player, his status on the team will likely be a volatile one: New England is pretty strong at linebacker even without him in the fold, so the one-time Pro Bowler will need to earn his role on the team — especially considering that the Patriots’ financial commitments will likely be limited. Collins certainly has value to the organization in its own eyes, but if he fails to justify the trust put in him by Bill Belichick and company it will not be a surprise to see the club move on from him again.