Ranking best fits for Odell Beckham
The NFL’s trade deadline receded into the rearview last week. Still, opportunities remain for teams to improve as the 2022 season’s playoff picture begins to crystallize.
Coaches can tinker with lineups or activate replacements from practice squads – that can also include poaching players from other clubs’ practice squads – and/or general managers can continue mining the waiver wire.
And then there’s the free agent pool, where the biggest fish of all remains unhooked: Odell Beckham Jr.
OBJ’s recovery from the ACL tear he suffered in the first half of Super Bowl 56 – he caught two passes for 52 yards and a TD for the Los Angeles Rams before the injury – continues, though it appears he’ll be choosing his next team soon. Speaking to Complex recently, Beckham cited the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants, one of his former employers, as clubs that have shown interest and hinted the Philadelphia Eagles, among others, could be in play. Equally notable, OBJ indicated he’s taking a longer view while assessing his options, so don’t expect the next contract to be of the short-term rental variety he signed with the Rams last season.
“I want to be able to spill like my last – not saying I’ve only got three or four left – but these next three or four years into something where I could buy a home, like I could call this place a home,” he said. “I’m tired of living out of ... suitcases. I’ve done the rock and roll life.”
And it does seem like his list of suitors goes beyond the four teams he explicitly listed. “The top teams are calling,” Beckham said.
So where would OBJ fit best? Here’s a ranking, from worst to best:
10. Kansas City Chiefs
The league’s top-ranked scoring offense has adapted quite well to life without WR Tyreek Hill. But can you imagine Beckham collaborating with QB Patrick Mahomes while restoring a huge percentage of Hill’s game-breaking quotient amid the benefit from the attention defenses must devote to TE Travis Kelce? The Chiefs could afford and beautifully deploy OBJ and will have a need beyond this season with WRs Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster on expiring contracts. But the deal breaker might be whether Beckham really wants to live in K.C.
9. Chicago Bears
The Windy City would be a much better locale for OBJ’s off-field interests than most cities. And QB Justin Fields is an up-and-coming young gun who desperately needs a No. 1 receiver. The Bears also have a 2023 free agent war chest projected at nearly $124 million, by far tops in the league. But how long before a currently run-heavy offense opens up – no team averages fewer throws or passing yards than Chicago this season – how much longer will this team be playing on that horrible Soldier Field sod, and when is it fair to assume the Bears will mature into serious contenders?
8. Green Bay Packers
They appear to be on Beckham’s short list. And former Pack star Davante Adams illustrated at length what a talented wideout can accomplish when synchronized to QB Aaron Rodgers. The need to fill Adams’ void is apparent and could only worsen in 2023 if Allen Lazard doesn’t re-sign. And things are awfully ugly in Titletown at present, Adams citing uncertainty about Rodgers’ future while leveraging his way to Las Vegas but having no way of knowing the reigning NFC North champs would fall this far without him. Lastly, the tiny Wisconsin hamlet just doesn’t seem like a place where a crossover superstar of Beckham’s prominence would want to park himself for six-plus months a year.
7. New York Giants
Beckham’s scintillating career took off in the shadow of The Big Apple after the G-Men made him a first-round pick in 2014. The highlights and the numbers quickly piled up at a record pace. However, the injuries and sideshow drama followed soon after, the preamble to an unsurprising divorce following the 2018 campaign. But the Giants are now under new management, Beckham is a more mature and circumspect individual ... and this team, in the thick of the NFC playoff mix, is in desperate need of receiving help. Beckham is familiar with ownership, the building and the doubleedged sword that is the New York market. But he hasn’t played for this staff, with QB Daniel Jones, nor does he know who will be under center in 2023 and whether next year’s QB (whether it’s Jones or not) will be sharing the backfield with RB Saquon Barkley, who’s also headed for free agency.
6. New York Jets
Same market, with the Jets – like the Giants – enjoying a renaissance in 2022. However there appears to be more nearterm stability in place with Gang Green, especially if you believe talented but inconsistent Zach Wilson can blossom into the franchise quarterback role. Regardless, the defense is strong and there’s plenty of offensive weaponry in place to keep the burden from falling entirely on Beckham’s shoulder pads. And there’s even a unique opportunity for OBJ to be the OG – and the 30-year-old has expressed interest in a mentorship role at this point in his career – in a wide receiver room featuring gifted youngsters Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore.
5. Minnesota Vikings
Beckham knows the system of rookie head coach Kevin O’Connell, his offensive coordinator with the Rams in 2021. And lining up opposite fellow former LSU star Justin Jefferson, OBJ might never see a double team in the Twin Cities. Cool stadium, cool town, decent quarterback (Kirk Cousins), and a program that’s on the rise in the midst of a 7-1 record that’s second only to Philly’s at present. However ... the Vikes are cap strapped in 2023 and might need to figure out a way to offload WR2 Adam Thielen to make room for Beckham.
4. San Francisco 49ers
Even though this offense is currently stocked with weapons like RB Christian McCaffrey, WR Deebo Samuel and TE George Kittle, you could argue it lacks a pure receiver – and certainly doesn’t have one with Beckham’s combination of deep speed, route running ability and miraculous playmaking. And who wouldn’t want to live in the Bay Area? If the Niners weren’t already a bona fide Super Bowl 57 threat, OBJ would make them that much more dangerous ... in 2022. The big unknown is what this attack will look like in 2023 and how this team will respond next year when inexperienced QB Trey Lance returns to the lineup.
3. Los Angeles Rams
They’ve kept Beckham’s locker intact hoping for his return. He knows the playbook and was resembling his old transcendent self opposite All-Pro Cooper Kupp before the unfortunate Super Bowl injury. Beckham is clearly a celebrity befitting the LA environs. But he’d need faith in the long-term outlook of a team that appears dead in the water in 2022 and has limited resources to upgrade the roster. Stafford’s balky elbow could also be a red flag, not to mention the dearth of blocking in front of him.
2. Buffalo Bills
OLB Von Miller, Beckham’s teammate with the Rams last season, signed here to put this long-suffering organization over the top and has been openly recruiting Beckham almost ever since. Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and OBJ would be a deadly wideout trio, and one QB Josh Allen would be highly capable of maximizing. But the Bills would have to move money (and perhaps players) around to fit Beckham into their salary structure. And it’s worth wondering how much more appealing Western New York in the winter might be to OBJ than Green Bay presumably would be.
1. Dallas Cowboys
Sure feels like the (iconic blue) stars are aligning to bring Beckham to Big D, owner Jerry Jones and coach Mike McCarthy lobbing verbal bouquets to the three-time Pro Bowler this week. “The Cowboys star on that helmet when he puts it on could look pretty good,” Jones proclaimed Tuesday. This offense can be explosive, but it was decidedly better in 2021 – top-ranked, in fact – when WR Amari Cooper was part of the palette at QB Dak Prescott’s disposal. Adding Beckham to the mix – on the field, in the locker room, in the community – might be a master stroke given all the other elements that seem to be in place. He even has deep family ties to the state and several pro-Cowboys relatives, admitting it makes North Texas a very attractive destination. Beckham is obviously a luminary who could shine brightly as part of the America’s Team mythology and might just be the guy who finally puts a title-starved franchise over the top.