After two and a half years of Odell Beckham Jr. being traded from the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns, the diva receiver will be released from the Dawg Pound this coming Monday. Most of us saw this coming a mile away, going back to last season. The marriage between Beckham and the Browns was busted from the beginning. The football relationship between Beckham and starting quarterback Baker Mayfield never came to fruition.
The one factor that made us believe OBJ would work out in Cleveland was because his best bud and fellow WR, Jarvis Landry would be lining up along side of him. Apparently, not even your best friend can keep you in Cleveland.
OBJ began displaying signs of frustration in the state of Ohio since about midway through last season. The star receiver kept his mouth shut for the most part but you don't need words when your body language is telling the story.
Like all wide outs, they want the damn ball. And when you have the talent like Odell does, it's understandable when a player of his caliber becomes frustrated. The fact is that the QB and WR weren't on the same page. Nor were they even reading from the same book. For whatever reason, the chemistry between Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. never landed on the elemental chart.
Before OBJ got to Cleveland, he was putting up some great numbers with Eli Manning and the Giants. From his rookie season in 2014, up til his final snap with New York in 2018, OBJ averaged nearly 1,300 receiving yards per season, 11 touchdown grabs and averaged 98 catches a year. These are Pro Bowl numbers and his highlight reel shows exactly why!
Beckham's statistics were excellent until he got exactly what he asked for. A trade! Swapping red and blue for orange and brown was to begin a new chapter in the eight year career of Odell Beckham Jr. The lesson here is that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the 50 yard line.
courtesy of DraftKings Nation
OBJ's numbers declined in Cleveland from the jump. He barely broke 1,000 yards receiving in 2019 with just 4 touchdowns and 74 catches. Not an awful year by a wide receiver's standards, but for the highly paid, newly acquired talent of #13, it wasn't acceptable. To make matters worse, Beckham has been hampered by injuries over the past year and a half.
In the 2020 season, OBJ only played in 7 games, going down and out for the year with a torn ACL. In those 7 games, OBJ only managed to gain 319 yards total through the air. Beckham continued rehab on his ACL, holding him out at the beginning of this season. When he finally returned to action, OBJ began having other physical injuries like his shoulders and lingering issues with his leg. He only gained 232 yards receiving in 6 games played.
The numbers were no longer there for Odell and neither was his chemistry with Eli. Clearly, Baker and Odell was an experiment gone wrong. After OBJ's father took to Instagram to show the social media world that his son had been open on a significant amount of plays in which Baker didn't throw him the ball, simply added fuel to the fire, forcing Brown's ownership into seeking a trade for the right price.
Apparently the Saints had opened up a discussion with Cleveland in order for New Orleans to acquire the stud receiver. However, no deal had been reached with the Saints or any other team that displayed interest in making a trade for Odell's services.
The trade deadline had come and passed and yet no trade was made for one of the most talented wide receivers in the game. So, officially come Monday morning, the Cleveland Browns will waive OBJ allowing any of the other 31 teams a chance to grab #13. Of course, their is a "pecking order" in which the waiver process must follow as far as which teams get the first crack in claiming OBJ off waivers.
If none of the teams sign Beckham off of waivers, then he becomes a free agent with the opportunity to sign with any team that desires his talents. Keep in mind that OBJ will have the final say in this scenario. Most teams will sit back and hope Beckham clears waivers and becomes a free agent. If a team were to claim Beckham off of the waiver wire, it would cost that organization $7.25 million to retain his services. However, if OBJ doesn't get claimed by any particular team, he becomes a free agent. This would be good news for any owner looking to acquire OBJ because that $7.25 million is no longer guaranteed and teams will get away with offering half of that total and perhaps even less.
The question now becomes which team is willing to spend a couple extra million bucks to get over the hump? We know the Saints are interested as they've already inquired about trading for OBJ. And now with the latest news regarding New Orleans top pass catcher, Michael Thomas being officially ruled out for the remainder of the year. The Saints are still in the running to put that balck and gold uniform over Odell Beckham Jr.'s shouldrpads.
Other teams that I believe have an interest in attaining OBJ are the Packers who need another viable receiver to line up next to DeVante Adams. I think the Patriots are a sneaky dark horse team that will actively try and acquire Odell. The 49ers would be smart to think about bringing OBJ aboard as he fits San Francisco's scheme with his numerous talents. The Ravens could certainly use him as well as the Raiders who just released Henry Ruggs due to a DUI arrest that resulted in the deaths of a woman and he dog. I like the Colts as a contender to get OBJ which in turn may make Indy contenders in the AFC. If the Chiefs pick him up I'll probably throw up. Let's see what happens on Monday when the Browns officially release Odell Beckham Jr.
I ran a poll on Twitter of which team is most likely to sign Odell Beckham Jr. The New Orleans Saints came out on top with 47% of the votes.