STAYING PUT?
Dealing Odell may no longer be part of Blueprint
NFL teams now thinking the Giants will not trade Odell after all
Some NFL teams that have spoken to the Giants reportedly no longer believe the team intends to trade Odell Beckham Jr. With the L.A. Rams acquiring Brandin Cooks from New England and ending their pursuit of Beckham — and the Giants’ asking price of two first-round picks reportedly leading at least one GM in talks with the Giants to pass — ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday afternoon on “NFL Live” that teams no longer think OBJ will be dealt.
“When you talk to teams around the league that have been in touch with the Giants, they no longer believe that the Giants are going to be trading Odell Beckham Jr.,” Schefter said. “There has been a shift here in thinking. I think that there was some thinking across the league that he was available, and I think that the Giants’ actions and words dictated that he was available. But when you talk to some of these teams now, they no longer believe he’s gonna be dealt.
“The fact that he showed up for the start of OTAs on Monday, (that) they’ve begun their offseason program with him in attendance, (that) the Rams have solved a wide receiver need with the acquisition of Brandin Cooks, leads other teams to believe — from their conversations with the Giants and their own observations — that Odell Beckham Jr. will not be traded,” Schefter added. “Now we’ll see whether that plays out, because we still have — again — 15 days before the draft. But I think the feeling amongst teams is he’s no longer gonna be traded.”
If the Giants aren’t going to trade Beckham, though, they need to pay him. Because Beckham is reportedly seeking $20 million per year in a long-term contract extension and reportedly does not intend to step foot on a football field without that deal, despite having one year remaining on his rookie contract.
This new development, therefore, broached an interesting conversation
between Schefter and Louis Riddick on Wednesday’s episode of “NFL Live.”
Riddick interviewed for the Giants’ GM vacancy in December. The search ended with John Mara and Steve Tisch hiring Dave Gettleman to replace the fired Jerry Reese. But Riddick undoubtedly discussed Beckham with the Giants and on Wednesday provided a clear insider’s glimpse into the organization’s internal debate about Beckham.
“I’ve always had the feeling that, look, what they’ve wanted to do all along going all the way back to the end of last year, the beginning of this offseason, was one, just to get Odell’s attention, and say, ‘Hey, look, you’re our guy. We understand what you bring to the table. We understand just how different of a talent that you are and how much different you make our team,’ ” Riddick said. “I don’t think they ever, going all the way up to ownership level, really wanted to get rid of the kid. They just want him to understand that there are consequences that come with your actions — whether you think they are benign or not, there are consequences that come with your actions.”
Schefter corrected Riddick on the point about whether the Giants ever wanted to trade Beckham, though. The Daily News first reported March 26 that the Giants and Rams had talked a Beckham trade, and the Giants’ discussions with teams was very real.
“But they were listening,” Schefter stepped in, “and they put out the price to teams, at least two ones.”
Riddick replied: “I’m sure they were listening, I’m just telling you from my,” then Riddick paused, clearly electing not to say too much from his knowledge of the Giants’ workings. “Ownership never really wanted to get rid of him. They know what they have in the guy. They just want to be, ‘Look, just have us not be sitting there pulling our hair out every time we turn around with something that you’re doing.”
Beckham’s early March social media video from France that appeared to show drugs in the room (and in his hand) obviously is the exact type of decision that the Giants are tired of and that nearly did — and still could — drive the Giants to trade him. Because this isn’t about whether the Giants think Beckham is a great player. It’s about the fact that they are in a position where they need to pick one extreme or the other: pay him or trade him. And paying him means making an enormous financial and long-term investment in both Beckham the person and player.
“But this will be a story for the whole offseason,” host Suzy Kolber asked.
“Yeah, I think now, though, in all honesty, I think that trade talk is gonna quiet here. I think the expectation is he’s not gonna be dealt right now,” Schefter said. “And I think that, yeah, the contract of course will be a story, and how they handle it from there, that’s going to be an ongoing issue for both sides to deal with, which is why I think we wound up in the spot we did a couple weeks ago, talking about whether he’d be traded. Because the Giants have to make a decision about whether they want to pay him or trade him. And I think that they’ve made the decision that the trade right now looks like it’s going to be very difficult to pull off, doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, and if you’re not gonna trade him, then at some point you’re gonna have to pay him.”