Odell Beckham Jr. has finally inked a deal with the Baltimore Ravens after over a year of sitting out
OWINGS MILLS, MD– The wait is finally over. After over a year of sitting out and speculation about where the former Rookie of the Year would end up, Odell Beckham Jr. and the Baltimore Ravens have agreed on terms that gives Beckham a one year contract for $18 million with $15 million of that money guaranteed.
Beckham sat out all of last year after entering free agency nursing an ACL injury suffered in Super Bowl LVI, as a member of a Rams team that signed him late into the season in 2021. Odell Beckham Jr. came into the league in 2014, and got off to a hot start, taking the league by storm with 1,305 yards and catching a ball against the Dallas Cowboys that launched him into pop culture and became a worldwide sensation.
Beckham, now 30 has looked like a shell of his former self, battling injuries and being dealt around the league. He began to find a role in Los Angeles’ 2021 Super Bowl winning team, improving and becoming a crucial piece of a high-powered offense that featured the likes of Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Robert Woods, but wasn’t resigned after his fateful injury in the second quarter.
Throughout the entire 2022 season, Odell Beckham Jr. sat out, opting to focus on rehab and finding a new team. Rumors had swirled about several teams in the mix, especially teams in desperate need of a receiver. Baltimore had always been lingering at the top of the list but was also in the loop with Dallas, Buffalo, Green Bay, and as of recently the Jets– in the form of Aaron Rodgers’ rumored receiver demand list he sent to the Jets as receivers he would like to play with.
The Ravens on the other hand, made a team-altering move with the signing of Beckham, in the best way possible. The Ravens have struggled at receiver in the past couple of years. In 2022, the team dealt Marquise Brown away to Arizona, leaving avoid in the receiver room that none of the receivers currently rostered have been able to fix. In fact, Beckham over the span of his career has produced five 1,000 yard seasons, the entirety of the Ravens receiving core has zero.
OBJ also will prove to be a valuable addition and key target for whoever lines up under center for the Ravens next year. Quarterback Lamar Jackson has requested a trade out of the organization after being denied a fully guaranteed contract, but the Odell signing could provide an incentive to stay. The QB was given a non-exclusive franchise tag earlier in the year, meaning that Jackson could leave if a team matches the contract, but no team has done so.
RELATED: Lamar Jackson Requests Trade; Gives Ravens Ultimatum
This shows that the Ravens organization and GM Eric DeCosta are more than serious about keeping Lamar intown and happy, however the implications of what could happen are yet to play out.
Odell Beckham Jr. spent five years in New York playing for the Giants, the team that drafted him in 2014, before signing an extension to continue playing with the Giants for an extra five years. Two years into his new deal, he was dealt to Cleveland where after his first season where he recorded 1,035 yards, his production drastically fell off as he battled through injuries and constant coaching turnover. In 2021, midway through the season, the team let Beckham go, where he was subsequentlly picked up by the Los Angeles Rams.
In eight regular season games and four postseason games, OBJ caught seven touchdowns, finishing his brief stint in Los Angeles with 48 receptions for 305 yards and a 11.3 yard average. Not bad for the player who was once considered washed out in Cleveland. The Ravens have had success in the past with veteran receivers, like Anquan Boldin, DeSean Jackson, and Steve Smith Sr. The team has been keen and open to older receivers, and seems to welcome them with open arms.
