Odell Beckham Jr. - Pro Football Rumors

Giants Want Two First-Round Picks For OBJ

March 28th, 2018 at 11:30am CST by Zachary Links

The Giants have asked for at least two first-round picks in return for Odell Beckham Jr., a league source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Meanwhile, the Giants continue to insist that they are not shopping the standout wide receiver.

Although OBJ is among the league’s very best receivers, an asking price of two first-round picks is probably too high to facilitate a deal. The 25-year-old is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is reportedly considering a holdout if he does not get a pricey contract extension. Even if Beckham Jr. backs off of that stance, a team would have to address his long-term future at some point or use the expensive franchise tag to keep him in the fold for 2019.

There’s also behavioral and health concerns to keep in mind. In March, Beckham was caught in a video which may have contained drug use and he has occasionally lost his cool on the field. Last season, a fractured ankle limited Beckham to just four games and he missed the start of his rookie year due to a hamstring issue.

NFC East Notes: Giants, Redskins, Cowboys

March 27th, 2018 at 8:15pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Although the Giants are not actively shopping wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., team owner John Mara (once again) didn’t dismiss the idea of dealing the star pass-catcher. “Do I want [Beckham] to be traded? Absolutely not,” said Mara, per Ralph Vacchiano of SNY (Twitter link). “I want him to be a Giant. I can’t promise that’s going to happen. We’re not looking to get rid of him, OK? I’d like him to be a Giant. But if you’re asking me for a 100% guarantee, nobody has that.” Beckham may reportedly consider a holdout if he’s not extended by the start of the 2018 season, but he’s clearly not in the good graces of New York’s decision-makers at the moment. Mara recently indicated he’s “tired of answering questions” about OBJ, who was involved in a video that may have involved drug use earlier this year.

Let’s take a look at more from the NFC East:

Free agent defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins is in a holding pattern with the Redskins after meeting with the club last week, as John Keim of ESPN.com writes. Asking price could be an issue, as Keim indicated Washington views Hankins as a potential complementary piece of its run defense rather than a key cog. As such, Hankins may not be in the Redskins’ plans unless his cost comes down. Fellow interior lineman Bennie Logan remains under consideration, but given that Washington has yet to schedule a visit, its interest clearly isn’t serious. If neither Hankins nor Logan end up in the nation’s capital, the Redskins should be expected to target defensive tackle help through the draft.
New Cowboys linebacker Joe Thomas‘ two-year deal is worth up to $3.6MM, tweets Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Thomas, who had spent his entire career in Green Bay, received a $1MM signing bonus and will also have $400K of his base salary guaranteed. The Packers opted to non-tender Thomas as a restricted free agent rather than pay him an original round tender of $1.907MM, and Thomas won’t meet that mark with Dallas, either, as Demovsky reports Thomas will collect just $1.6MM total in 2018. Thomas, 26, will likely spend most of his time on the Cowboys’ special teams unit, but will provide depth in case Sean Lee or Jaylon Smith go down with injury.
Texas A&M receiver Christian Kirk has schedule a pre-draft visit with the Cowboys, according to Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. Because he’s likely considered a local prospect, Kirk shouldn’t count against Dallas’ allotment of 30 prospect meetings. The Cowboys have already added Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson to a pass-catching corps that also includes Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, and — for now — Dez Bryant, but Kirk could give the club another dimension on offense. Kirk averaged a 78/952/9 line during three seasons with the Aggies.

NFC West Rumors: Seahawks, Cardinals, OBJ

March 27th, 2018 at 10:56am CST by Zachary Links

The Seahawks are now without stars Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Jimmy Graham, and Sheldon Richardson as well as up-and-coming wide receiver Paul Richardson, but GM John Schneider is insistent that the team is not in rebuilding mode.

“It’s just always very, very hard to make those decisions to move on from people, but that’s what we have to do in order to be a consistent championship-caliber football team,’’ Schneider said (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). “We don’t want to be having these major rebuilding years. We want to be able to have little re-sets, if you will.”

Last year, the Seahawks went 9-7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011. It certainly feels like there’s a changing of the guard in the NFC West thanks to the Rams, but Seattle will push to get back on top this year, despite the cap crunch.

Here’s more from the NFC West:

Cardinals’ head coach Steve Wilks said he expects doctors to clear running back David Johnson (wrist) in time to be ready for OTAs (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Johnson was arguably the league’s best offensive player in 2016 as he posted more than 2,100 yards from scrimmage and scored 20 total touchdowns.
The Cardinals don’t have any interest in Odell Beckham Jr., according to Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM (on Twitter). As good as OBJ is, the Cardinals are wary of his contract situation. The wide receiver is slated to earn about $8.5MM in 2018, but he’s pushing for a new deal that would put him at the top of the market for his position. That may mean a salary of $17MM per year or more.

Latest On Giants, Odell Beckham Jr.

March 27th, 2018 at 10:37am CST by Zachary Links

The Giants aren’t shopping Odell Beckham Jr., but it doesn’t sound like they’re ruling out a trade either. When asked about the wide receiver at Tuesday’s owners’ meetings, Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said, “He’s on our team right now,” (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).

Shurmur’s comments echo those of owner John Mara who recently said he is “tired of answering questions about” Beckham’s behavior and refused to say that “anybody is untouchable.” Meanwhile, OBJ is considering a holdout if he does not get a lucrative extension that will take him beyond the 2018 season.

Earlier this month, a video appeared to capture Beckham getting involved with drugs. His mood swings have also caused some headaches for the team in the past, though Shurmur’s new administration will try to help him stay focused on football.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like Beckham can be had via trade, but it would be extremely costly for any team acquiring him. The Giants still seem set on winning in 2018 and they’ll need a big return in order to replace Beckham’s production. As it stands, Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard are the next best wide receivers on the Giants’ depth chart.

Giants Aren’t Shopping Odell Beckham Jr.

March 26th, 2018 at 5:31pm CST by Zachary Links

Despite some rumors to the contrary, it sounds like Odell Beckham Jr. is staying put. The Giants are not shopping the wide receiver, according to a source who spoke with Kimberly Jones of NFL.com (on Twitter).

On Monday, a report from the New York Daily News indicated that there have been trade talks between the Giants and the Rams regarding Beckham Jr.. However, the Giants know that they are better off with a healthy OBJ and a trade “probably won’t happen,” the source tells Jones.

The 25-year-old (26 in November) lost most of this past season to injury, but outside of that, he has been nothing short of spectacular. In 2016, OBJ had 101 catches for 1,367 yards and ten touchdowns en route to his third career Pro Bowl selection. Beckham Jr. is reportedly considering a holdout if he does get a contract extension, but the Giants plan on working things out with him in one fashion or another rather than trading him.

The Rams have already shaken things up on the defensive side by adding Ndamukong Suh, trading for cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib and signing corner Sam Shields. They also completed one trade with the Giants already when they shipped linebacker Alec Ogletree out east. The Rams have Dave Gettleman’s number saved, but it doesn’t sound like they’ll be pulling off a second deal to land one of the game’s most dynamic playmakers.

Odell Beckham Jr. Considering Holdout?

March 26th, 2018 at 8:24am CST by Dallas Robinson

Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. appears to be threatening a holdout, as he is reportedly unlikely to play in 2018 without a contract extension, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Beckham’s reported stance is being made public just one day after Giants owner John Mara said he is “tired of answering questions about” Beckham’s behavior and refused to say that “anybody is untouchable.” The 25-year-old superstar was involved in controversy earlier this month, as he was witnessed in a video which may have contained drug use.

While New York almost surely won’t release Beckham, Mara said a “possibility” exists that OBJ could play out his rookie deal without a new contract. Beckham, though, doesn’t appear amenable to such a scenario, especially given that he’s coming off a fractured ankle which limited him to just four games last season. Scheduled to earn roughly $8.5MM for the upcoming campaign, Beckham will likely target a top-end wide receiver deal with an annual salary approaching $17MM+.

The Giants could conceivably trade Beckham, although it’s unclear what kind of return they could expect. NFL executives suggested wildly different offers to Mike Sando of ESPN.com, with some decision-makers saying New York could reap two first-round picks, with others indicating the Marcus Peters package — a second-rounder and a fourth-rounder — is more likely.

During his first three seasons in the league, Beckham was one of the more productive young wideouts in NFL history. From 2014-16, Beckham totaled 288 receptions, 4,122 yards, and 35 touchdowns, figures which rank first, second, and fourth, respectively, among wide receivers in NFL history during the first three seasons of their respective careers.

Latest On Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.

March 25th, 2018 at 4:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After witnessing star wideout Odell Beckham Jr. in a video which may have contained drug use, Giants owner John Mara doesn’t sound pleased with his club’s most high-profile player, and didn’t rule out the possibility of a Beckham trade.

“I can’t answer that one way or another,” Mara told reporters, including Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. “We’re certainly not shopping him if that’s what you’re asking. But again, when you’re coming off a season where you’re 3-13 and played as poorly as we played, I wouldn’t say that anybody is untouchable.

“You always listen to those things,” Mara said. “But that’s not a scenario that I would like to see happen. I’m tired of answering questions about Odell’s behavior and what the latest incident is. I think he knows what we expect of him. Now it’s up to him.”

While the Giants surely won’t release Beckham, Mara didn’t completely shut the door on the idea of dealing the 25-year-old, while Mara also said there is a “possibility” New York will allow OBJ to play out his rookie contract without an extension in 2018, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. Beckham will earn roughly $8.5MM during the upcoming season, while the 2019 franchise tag will likely cost ~$16-17MM.

Although the Giants seem frustrated by Beckham at the moment, his talent cannot be denied. From 2014-16, Beckham totaled 288 receptions, 4,122 yards, and 35 touchdowns, figures which rank first, second, and fourth, respectively, among wide receivers in NFL history during the first three seasons of their careers. In 2017, however, Beckham managed only four games before a fractured ankle ended his year.

Odell Beckham Jr. Involved In “Troubling” Video

March 11th, 2018 at 8:30am CST by Rory Parks

Star Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr. is featured in a potentially disturbing video clip that was leaked on Friday while Beckham was on a Nike-sponsored trip in Europe, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. As Raanan writes, the clip is seven seconds long and shows Beckham in a bed holding what appears to be some sort of brown cigarette or cigar. The video also shows a woman next to Beckham holding a credit card, and there is a powdery white substance aligned in rows nearby.

Needless to say, this video has emerged at a very inopportune time for Beckham. After reportedly seeking a $100MM+ contract before the 2017 campaign got underway — and given how productive he had been in his first three years in the league, those ambitions did not seem unreasonable — Beckham managed to play just four games in 2017 due to a broken ankle, which cast his chances of landing a record-breaking extension into doubt. Nonetheless, he is still hoping for a lucrative long-term deal to come his way this offseason, as he is set to play out the 2018 season on his fifth-year option, which will pay him $8.5MM.

The Giants, of course, have a new GM and head coach, both of whom have indicated that they are in Beckham’s corner and want him to be with the club for the foreseeable future. Team ownership has never wavered in its desire to make Beckham a Giant for life, but Big Blue was surely hoping that Beckham had moved past his ankle injury as well as his past enigmatic behavior, and this video will not help matters.

ESPN has been unable to confirm where or when the video was filmed, but the NFL and the Giants are aware of its existence. Both the league and the team have declined to comment beyond that, and Beckham’s camp has not returned requests for comment.

East Notes: Wentz, Beckham, Patriots

February 4th, 2018 at 11:54am CST by Rory Parks

The Eagles are gearing up for Super Bowl LII tonight, but their prospects for next season got a nice boost this morning. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that, this Wednesday, Carson Wentz will begin weight-bearing exercises with his brace unlocked for the first time since being placed on injured reserve. That marks a big milestone in Wentz’s recovery, because when he is able to begin weight-bearing exercises, his recovery can proceed as if he had torn only his ACL instead of his ACL and LCL.

When it was revealed that Wentz tore both his ACL and LCL, concern as to whether he would be ready for next season’s opener increased, and it is still far from a given that he will be on the field for Week 1 of the 2018 campaign. But Dr. James Bradley, who performed Wentz’s surgery, said that barring a setback, Wentz should be ready to do some work in training camp and be ready to play in Week 1.

Now for more notes from the league’s east divisions:

Mercurial Giants wideout Odell Beckham, Jr. is under club control for one more season — the last year of his rookie deal — and it was not too long ago that he was looking for a new contract worth at least $100MM. But a season-ending ankle fracture in October has thrown a wrench into those plans, and we recently learned that team owner John Mara would not engage in contract talks with Beckham until he discussed the matter with new head coach Pat Shurmur. As Anthony Barstow of the New York Post writes, though, Shurmur is seemingly in Beckham’s corner, and Beckham himself is anxious to put the matter to bed. He said during last night’s NFL Honors show, “Hopefully we get it done, just to get it over with. I really want to do it so I can move past it. It’s too much to be sitting around, thinking where I’m going to be.”
We heard several days ago that the Patriots are likely to lose special teams coach Joe Judge and offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia this offseason — Judge to another team and Scarnecchia to retirement — but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com does not believe either departure is a foregone conclusion. Given that New England will lose top coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, Reiss can envision a scenario in which owner Robert Kraft gives Judge a raise to convince him to stay and head coach Bill Belichick “leans on” Scarnecchia to come back for at least one more season.
This year’s QB market is uniquely loaded with talent, both in free agency and the draft, and if Jets GM Mike Maccagnan cannot find a permanent solution this offseason, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com says he should be run out of town. The Jets will certainly be a competitor for Kirk Cousins‘ services, but a Cousins splurge would significantly hamper the team’s ability to improve the rest of its roster. Cimini believes Gang Green should pass on Cousins if the bidding gets out of hand, as he views the longtime Redskin as a complementary piece rather than a savior. Of course, what the Jets do vis-a-vis Cousins depends on how Maccagnan & Co. view the 2018 rookie class.
Speaking of Cousins, we heard this morning that the Redskins may put the franchise tag on him in the coming weeks with the hopes of trading him.

East Notes: Dolphins, Landry, ODB

January 26th, 2018 at 3:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Th Dolphins have not yet presented Jarvis Landry with another offer after his representation made a counter-offer in mid-December, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The wide receiver has already told people close to him that he doesn’t expect to return to Miami, but Jackson cautions that a lot can happen between now and mid-March. As it stands, there is a sizable gap between the two sides.

Here’s more from the AFC and NFC East:

Giants owner John Mara says that he will not engage in contract talks with Odell Beckham Jr. until he sits down to speak with new head coach Pat Shurmur. “We will deal with that at the appropriate time,” Mara said (via Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com). “I’ve said before many times that he wants to be a Giant. We’ll get something done at some point. I want first Pat to sit down with him.” Shurmur says that a meeting is on the horizon, though Eli Manning is the only player he has met with as of this writing.
It might make sense for the Jets to trade a fourth-rounder or maybe even a third-rounder for Alex Smith while giving a rookie quarterback time to learn the ropes, Manish Mehta of the Daily News opines. However, he doesn’t think it makes sense to sacrifice a second-round choice for a 34-year-old with just one year left on his contract. The Jets are armed with more than $70MM in cap room, which could make them a player for Kirk Cousins and other top free agent QBs, but teams like the Browns and 49ers could top them with upwards of $100MM to work with. Trading for a veteran QB and grooming a young signal caller be the way to go if the Jets want to plan for the future while remaining competitive in ’18.
On Friday, the Jets hired ex-Bills offensive coordinator Rick Dennison to be their new offensive line coach and run game coordinator.