Disconnect: Browns cut ties with OBJ, end drama-filled stay
Odell Beckham’s final target with the Browns was a pass thrown to him late, high and out of his reach.
He tried catching it with one hand. Another incompletion, and like OBJ’s time with Cleveland, a failure.
Out of patience with Beckham’s antics and attitude, the Browns on Friday said they’re releasing the polarizing star wide receiver, whose arrival 2 1/2 years ago triggered a celebration and spawned wild expectations never met.
Beckham’s unceremonious exit — still not official — came on his 29th birthday and days after his father shared an 11-minute video on social media highlighting plays on which Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield didn’t throw him the ball.
Beckham was excused from two days of practice while his agents tried to work out an amicable parting with general manager Andrew Berry as the Browns (4-4) were preparing to play a critical game on Sunday in Cincinnati.
“This really is not about the video,” Berry said a few hours after the Browns announced the breakup. “It’s really about a series of discussions, certainly over the last week but even spanning back longer than that.”
Beckham wanted out of Cleveland almost from the time he was acquired in a 2019 blockbuster trade from the New York Giants. He asked to be traded several times, and now has his wish. Sort of.
SAINTS: Quarterback Trevor Siemian will start a game for the first time in more than two years when New Orleans hosts Atlanta on Sunday. Saints coach Sean Payton announced his de
cision on Friday, specifying that fellow quarterback Taysom Hill, who came back this week from an Oct. 10 concussion, also is expected to play against the Falcons.