Odell Beckham Jr. has spent his offseason and summer stuck in a friendly contract standoff with the New York Giants, a team he's under contract with for one more season. It's unlikely that Beckham will be playing for another team in 2018 (or even 2019 considering something called the franchise tag exists), but according to one of Beckham's friends, he's "definitely" interested in playing for another NFL team.
That friend is Jarvis Landry, a receiver for the Cleveland Browns who played with Beckham at LSU. And that team is, of course, the Cleveland Browns.
"If things like that are able to happen and the team can make it happen, then why not?" Landry told Cleveland.com. "He definitely would be (up for it). He would be."
According to Mary Kay Cabot, "Landry indicated that Beckham, one of his best friends in the league, has told him he'd want to play for the Browns." And on his part, Landry said that they've had "talks."
Well, that's a fun idea for Cleveland and a way less fun idea for New York. But it's unlikely to happen unless the Browns are willing to pay a significant price to trade for Beckham and are then willing to give Beckham the lucrative long-term contract he desires.
In March, Giants owner John Mara did say that nobody on the team was "untouchable," but a trade has failed to materialize and most of the dialogue about a possible trade has completely evaporated. Meanwhile, Beckham, who reportedly wants to be paid like a quarterback ($20 million), participated in the Giants' offseason program and reported to training camp, so it's not like the contract standoff is an ugly one. On Monday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the two sides have had "good-faith negotiations" about a deal that would make Beckham the highest-paid receiver in football.
Over the past several days, Odell Beckham Jr’s agent Zeke Sandhu & the #Giants engaged in good-faith negotiations on a deal that would make him the highest paid WR in the NFL, sources say. They aren’t there yet, but the sides are encouraged a deal could be done before the season.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 6, 2018
Let's say the Giants and Beckham can't come to an agreement before the season starts and Beckham is forced to play out the final year of his rookie contract, which will pay him roughly $8.5 million in 2018. That doesn't mean Beckham will enter free agency after the season and be free to sign with another team like the Browns. The Giants would likely hit Beckham with the franchise tag, giving them another chance to reach a long-term agreement with their best player and making sure he's around for the 2019 season. They're not just going to let him walk away and get nothing in return.
So, to get Beckham, the Browns would probably have to trade for him. And again, the Giants' asking price would likely be very expensive considering Beckham is a top-five receiver in football and he's only 25 years old.
Even though they don't have Beckham, the Browns' receiving corps still has some promise. There's Landry, who's caught 400 passes for 4,038 yards and 22 touchdowns in four seasons. There's Josh Gordon, whose talent is undeniable, but has had trouble staying on the field. And then -- in the aftermath of the Browns' decision to trade Corey Coleman to Buffalo on Sunday -- there's rookie Antonio Callaway, who's talented but also has some off-the-field concerns.
In June, Gordon said that the Browns have "the best receiving corps in the league ... just based off of talent alone."
That's probably not entirely true -- unless they somehow find a way to add Odell Beckham to their crew.
