The Browns Are Not Going to Trade Odell Beckham Jr.

It's the NFL offseason and rumors rule the daily news cycle. That has perhaps never been more obvious than this year, what with the unprecedented quarterback movement that has brought us two monumental trades in as many weeks with the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff swap followed by the Carson Wentz transaction. With the Deshaun Watson situation still unresolved and more than a few teams still in need of a starting quarterback for 2021, the next few months will bring even more action on the trade front.

Of course, it isn't a real football offseason without some talk of Odell Beckham Jr. trade discussions. The talented wideout is seemingly rumored to be on the move every year. This is for two reasons. One, he is objectively one of the most exciting players in the league when he's healthy and everyone likes to imagine how their own team's offense might change if OBJ was lining up outside. Two, he is a mercurial personality who tends to be portrayed as a man perpetually searching for more. Whether or not that's true doesn't matter (unfortunately), that's who he is in the eyes of many fans.

All that means any rumor, no matter how vague, involving "OBJ" and "trade" is going to be a talking point. We got more than a vague rumor in the form of a recent official report from NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, who said the Cleveland Browns are "listening" to trade offers for the star wideout, but teams aren't "knocking down the door" to try and acquire him.

It is unsurprising the Browns are listening to trade offers because any GM worth his salt listens to trade offers for just about anybody, even if he never has any intention of acting upon any such offers. If the Giants called up Andrew Berry and said they'd give Cleveland two first-rounders to get OBJ back, he makes that deal without hesitation because some offers are too good to pass up.

But nobody is going to make that offer for this version of OBJ and that's why he'll be in a Cleveland uniform next year. The 27-year-old is coming off a torn ACL. Even after his first underwhelming year as a Brown, his trade value was higher than it is right now. If Cleveland desperately wanted to get rid of him for whatever reason and was willing to give him away for a low draft pick, then sure, a trade would be feasible.

However, on that side of things, the Browns aren't going to do that just like no other team is going to offer a king's ransom for OBJ. Cleveland just made the playoffs for the first time in over a decade even after losing Beckham Jr. to his knee injury in Week 7. How might things have changed if he was around for the team's playoff run? OBJ is a legitimate game-changer of a wideout who can take it to the house in the blink of an eye. All it takes is a minuscule amount of space and he's gone. That kind of receiver is not easy to find. Baker Mayfield isn't better off without him, no matter what the advanced stats might say.

OBJ isn't going anywhere. Cleveland finally found the formula for success it has so desperately been searching for, and without arguably their most talented player to boot. They want to see what a playoff team with Beckham Jr. looks like. If a potential trade partner comes calling with a massive offer that Berry turns down, that's one thing. But considering the likelihood of that happening is slim-to-none, we can put fantasies like what OBJ would look like catching passes from Tom Brady in Florida to bed.