Three Odell Beckham Jr. Free Agency Destinations
By Liam McKeone
Odell Beckham Jr. worked out on an empty field in Arizona last night. Nearly half the teams in the NFL had a representative in attendance as everyone tries to gauge how much OBJ will be worth when free agency kicks off next week. For a guy we haven't seen on any field since Super Bowl LVI, he looked pretty good. And he made a one-handed catch so he's clearly fine.
Beckham Jr. looks as good as one could hope after tearing his ACL 13 months ago. Game speed and empty field speed are still two entirely different things. There will be plenty of interest in the wideout anyway because he was pretty good the last time we saw him in live action and it hasn't been that long since he was a legit game-breaker.
Here are a few potential landing spots for OBJ when free agency opens next Wednesday.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills flamed out early in the postseason this year, in part due to a lack of depth at wide receiver. Gabe Davis was fun that one time but didn't really pan out last season. After him there is pretty much nobody. Signing OBJ would be in line with the Von Miller move-- paying high-end money to bring in a vet who can make an instant impact. Of course, with Beckham Jr. it's all in theory compared to Miller, who was coming off a great playoff run. This would not solve Buffalo's wideout issues but it would help alleviate them and this year's WR class in free agency is so weak it's worth taking a swing on OBJ.
Dallas Cowboys
Beckham Jr. publicly flirted with the Cowboys throughout last season (and Jerry Jones flirted back) before things fell apart rather quickly. We do not know exactly why but reading between the lines of the Cowboys' comments on the matter it seemed they wanted OBJ for this year's playoff run and he wasn't going to be ready so they moved on. Well, he's healthy now and Dak Prescott still needs another weapon. If Dallas is willing to meet what will probably be a high price point annually for Beckahm Jr.'s services then it's a natural match.
Los Angeles Rams
Why not run it back? The Rams attempted to replicate Beckham Jr.'s presence in their offense with Allen Robinson and that worked out so poorly that Los Angeles is trying to trade him one year later. Sean McVay's offense works a lot better when there are two legit receiving threats and OBJ worked out pretty well in that regard during the Super Bowl run. Yet again, though, we come to price point as a potential problem. Beckham Jr. is not going to take a cheap deal to play for a contender. He already has his ring. But if the Rams feel that he's a good use of their cap space then they should be the most interested party on the list because they know exactly what they are getting from OBJ.