Odell Beckham Jr. recently underwent surgery to repair his second ACL tear in 15 months. The injury-prone wide receiver is less than two weeks from free agency, but he and the Rams were interested in continuing their partnership before Super Bowl LVI.
The second-quarter injury stands to affect Beckham’s market, considering he tore the ACL in the same knee with Cleveland in 2020. But the Rams remain interested in re-signing him. Les Snead said the team would “definitely like” to have OBJ back, via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue (subscription required). Although the 11th-year GM said adjustments would need to be made at wide receiver due to Beckham and Robert Woods‘ injury recoveries, the team is willing to make it work.
“I really love him, I cherish our relationship that we were able to establish and develop, and I’m hopeful that there will be many more years working together,” Sean McVay said during an interview with CBS Sports’ Adam Schein (audio link). “… I hated to see him go down. I really believe he was in store for going absolutely bananas in the Super Bowl. Our guys delivered, but Odell’s somebody we want to continue to work with.”
Beckham said he would take less to stay in Los Angeles, and the team’s plans for a Matthew Stafford extension would free up some cap space. Of course, Von Miller probably resides as a higher priority due to his dominant playoff performance. Miller has also said he wants to stay in L.A., but the future Hall of Famer will explore free agency before committing to stay with the defending champions.
If Beckham re-signs, the Rams would be poised to deploy a three-wideout set of OBJ, Woods and Cooper Kupp. That trio never played together; Woods suffered an ACL tear days after the Rams signed Beckham in November. Beckham’s price then becomes interesting due to Woods being tied to a $16.25MM-per-year deal; Kupp’s $15.75MM-AAV pact now looks extraordinarily team-friendly. Kupp’s deal might become an issue either this year or next, given his historic 2021 season.
The Rams are more than $20MM over the projected 2022 cap. Once they move under, the perennial star-seeking team figures to say goodbye to more role players. Starting O-linemen Austin Corbett and Brian Allen are set for free agency, as is swing tackle Joe Noteboom. No. 2 cornerback Darious Williams is set to hit the market as well.
Hope he returns but not really a fan. He seems to be a distraction when things are not going well.