On his first full day as a free agent, Odell Beckham Jr. is dominating the NFL news cycle. Offers are coming in, and several teams remain in the mix.
The Saints emerged as a team on Beckham’s radar, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk tweets a belief in certain league circles exists that OBJ will end up in New Orleans. This is not a done deal, and New Orleans’ quarterback situation will affect its viability here. Beckham is a New Orleans native.
While some around the league view the wide receiver-needy Saints as having a leg up, the Seahawks have indeed reached out since Beckham became a free agent, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Seattle, which was linked to Antonio Brown last year and kept Josh Gordon in their plans for multiple years, was viewed as a suitor — and a frontrunner as recently as Sunday — for the eighth-year wideout.
The Patriots also “definitely” remain in the mix, according to Florio (on Twitter), though a previous report did not list them as a team Beckham was considering. New England also has a history of big-ticket receiver moves under Bill Belichick, and with the Browns covering $4.25MM of his salary, money is not the significant factor it usually is in high-end free agent pursuits. Beckham’s recent struggles notwithstanding, the Pats are not dismissing the notion he would be an interesting addition, NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran notes, and the team believes the mutual respect between Belichick and Beckham provides a genuine opportunity for a partnership, per Mike Giardi of NFL.com (Twitter links).
New Orleans lost Jameis Winston for the season and went with Trevor Siemian as its starter in Week 9, keeping Taysom Hill in his gadget role. The Saints, however, have a major receiver need and attempted to trade for OBJ before the deadline. Beckham’s high salary certainly affected that potential deal, but he has since cleared waivers, making an addition much more palatable to teams. The Saints, who cut Emmanuel Sanders earlier this year, will not have Michael Thomas this season and have felt the effects of their thin receiver depth chart.
With the Packers and Chiefs listed among teams to attract OBJ interest, it remains to be seen if the 29-year-old target — who is hoping to bounce back potentially ahead of a 2022 free agency run — will choose a Saints team with a far less appealing quarterback situation. Green Bay has offered Beckham a veteran-minimum deal, and it is unlikely another team will come in with a far more lucrative proposal. A sixth team is also in the mix, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe tweets. While the 49ers were mentioned as Beckham suitors before his Browns exit, it is not known if they are still pursuing him.
WR isn’t the 49ers biggest area of need, especially with Aiyuk finally starting to live up to last years hype, Deebo having a monster season and Kittle back but I still would love to see them get him, maybe offer him a cheaper deal this year and since the cap is risking, some free agents will be departing and Jimmy will be off the books you can give him a 2 year deal with more guaranteed money next season. They’d still have plenty of cap space to address the CB position, if Lynch decides to finally do so and also extend Bosa and Deebo is that’s the plan. Cap should be rising significantly with fans back this season at full capacity and like I said they got Jimmy off the books plus I’m sure some of those 1 year deals they handed out won’t be back so they could easily afford to get him and fill areas of need next season. With all that said, they won’t. They probably don’t feel they need him and Lynch usually just doesn’t make moves like this. He will say he checked in or made an offer like always though, just to please fans to make them think he tried but never actually pull the trigger. But, like I said, not a huge need so not a big deal and from what I’ve seen on social media half the fans don’t want him anyways, they think he’s a diva and half would love to have him. I’m one of those that would love to have him. I think a veteran WR would be great for Lance next season. I guess he most likely will be a FA anyways, sounds like he will only sign a deal for the remainder for this season which is smart, make sure it’s a fit before committing to multiple seasons I guess is the smart thing to do with his reputation.
This is a good post but you should space out those paragraphs a bit. I agree with what you said.
Don’t go to N.E., Odell! If you miss one pass Mac Jones may put you in an ankle lock on the sideline!
weak at best.
Although Seattle could use OBJ as a disguise to actually help Metcalf and Lockett get more passes thrown their way I don’t think they should sign him. OBJ would take too many catches away from Swain and Eskridge. The latter looked explosive early on and the former is finally being allowed to show his massive potential.
Swain is criminally underused- especially the season before. Freddie Swain reminds me so much of Doug Baldwin in that he rarely drops a ball thrown his way and if you watch his routes in the all-22 you’d see how often he beats his man. I’m afraid no-one will ever see the Baldwin reference if Beckham Jr is brought onboard.
Yeah, Beckham also seems to have too similar a skill set to the current Seahawks receivers to me-in that he’s an agile receiver who will run similar routes and likely operate as a third option. He won’t be bad, necessarily, it just seems unnecessary.
I don’t know how the Saints will handle Thomas and Beckham together, especially with a backup quarterback and no long term solution there. Beckham may be happy being home, but will that feeling be enough to keep him satisfied long term if New Orleans takes its time finding a new passer? I think Beckham will fit just fine schematically and will fill a huge need with the Saints, but the best short term destination for him is likely either Green Bay or Kansas City.
Kansas City will likely be more willing to stay with him longer, and though the Chiefs are behind the eight ball, they have an established coach and star quarterback who will be there for the foreseeable future. Green Bay will allow Beckham to get a chance to regain his reputation, play with a star quarterback (hopefully), and play with a contender for a short period before looking for a big contract somewhere if he wants to try.
There is no doubt OBJ has the skills to help Seattle. The Seahawks are thin at receiver with little depth behind Locket and Metcalf. Eskridge hasn’t been able to shake off the effects of his concussion and Swain is still very raw. OBJ would give them a 3 receiver set that would be extremely challenging for defenses to cover, and could be just what they need to open up the offense.
But will he choose them with their 3-5 record being a longshot to make the playoffs? Maybe, if he thought they’d resign him. For Seattle, that could be difficult.
Would he be worth the risk? Tough call, but if any coach could manage that ego it just might be Pete Carroll.