One of the NFL’s biggest superstars has a new home. With the Browns.
After much speculation, it’s actually happened: Odell Beckham Jr. has been traded by the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Giants will receive a first-round pick, a third-round pick, and safety Jabrill Peppers in exchange for the receiver.
It’s a puzzling end to Beckham’s time in New York, but an exciting addition for the Browns, who instantly get the boost provided by one of the best receivers in the NFL.
In only 59 career games, Beckham has 390 receptions, 5,476 yards, and 44 touchdowns. His 92.8 yards per game is the second-highest career average in NFL history, behind only Julio Jones.
Trade rumors started swirling back in March 2018, when Giants owner John Mara said no player is “untouchable” in a trade, according to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra. But the speculation from his comments appeared put to rest when the Giants signed the receiver to an extension in August.
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman has repeatedly said the team didn’t sign Beckham to trade him. Mara said they felt “good about having him on our team for the next five years.”
But here we are — less than a year later — with Beckham shipped off to Cleveland.
Why did the Giants trade Beckham?
The Giants seemed hesitant to give Beckham a long-term deal, but finally did after — according to Mara — the receiver “checked the boxes” that concerned the team.
The problem for New York was Beckham’s:
- Struggle to stay healthy
- Struggle to stay out of trouble
Five seasons into his career, Beckham has only played one 16-game season. Three were shortened by injuries and a fourth was a 15-game season due to a one-game suspension.
Trade rumors involving Beckham first picked up after a video made the internet rounds in March 2018 that showed the receiver with an aspiring French model, a pizza, and a couple of things that resembled illegal substances.
“I guess my response to that is I’m tired of answering questions about Odell’s behavior,” Mara told reporters. “He knows what’s expected of him, and now it’s up to him.”
Beckham didn’t do anything to earn a suspension, but he pissed off the Giants again during the 2018 season when he sat down with rapper Lil Wayne and ESPN’s Josina Anderson for an interview. Beckham gave some surprisingly honest and candid answers — questioning Eli Manning’s abilities and suggesting the Giants have held him back.
“I don’t feel like I’m being given the opportunity to be the very best that I can, to bring that every single day — and that’s really all I want to do, to bring that every single day,” Beckham said. “Since I’ve been here I’ve put up numbers, records have been broken and all those good things, not to say mean nothing to me, but I know they could have been double, or triple whatever they are now. That’s the part that bothers me.”
Giants coach Pat Shurmur was reportedly “livid” about the comments and made the receiver apologize to his teammates.
Apparently the Giants decided Beckham was more trouble than he’s worth. An odd choice considering the commitment to him they made last August, and considering he’s an elite, 26-year-old cornerstone.
Parting ways with Landon Collins was a head scratcher. Trading Beckham is even more confusing.
Why did the Browns trade for Beckham?
Trading for one of the game’s best receivers can hardly ever be a bad thing, right?
Beckham is a game-changing talent and one of only 12 players with over 5,000 receiving yards since 2014. He got there, despite missing 21 games. Only Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins have more receiving touchdowns since Beckham entered the league.
He even threw two touchdown passes during the 2018 season.
The Browns are on the up with second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield, first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens, and an offense that already has some other exciting pieces like wide receiver Jarvis Landry, running back Nick Chubb, and tight end David Njoku.
The trade reunites Beckham with Landry, his college teammate, and Adam Henry, former LSU and Giants wide receivers coach who now holds the same position with the Browns.
To no surprise, Mayfield is excited about having a new dynamic weapon:
Adding Beckham to the mix makes the Browns a legitimately scary team.
Cleveland will likely have to give Beckham a raise after Antonio Brown’s trade to the Raiders made Brown the highest-paid receiver in the NFL:
The #Raiders added $11.2 million to Antonio Brown's original 4-year, $68M extension, pushing the APY to $19.8M overall.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 13, 2019
Using the same math/logic, the #Browns would have to add $10M to Odell Beckham Jr.'s 5-year, $90M deal to get him to $20M APY -- and back to the No. 1 slot.
With around $50 million in cap space, the Browns should have no problem giving Beckham what he wants.
Where do the Giants go from here?
The Giants’ offense has a few young and promising pass catchers in wideout Sterling Shepard and tight end Evan Engram. But it’s clear that now — and for the foreseeable future — the New York offense will go through Saquon Barkley.
The 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year had 2,028 yards from scrimmage — making him the first rookie to top 2,000 since Edgerrin James did it back in 1999. Eli Manning will be the Giants’ starter in 2019, but his best days are way in the rearview mirror. The Giants are likely to draft a new quarterback of the future, and most mock drafts expect that to be Dwayne Haskins.
The extra first-round pick received from Cleveland can help lock down a quarterback, but Gettleman is running the risk of making the same mistakes that got him fired by the Panthers. He unceremoniously parted with many of the team’s stars — like Steve Smith, DeAngelo Williams, and Josh Norman— and didn’t draft well enough to fill the holes.
Cutting Landon Collins and trading Beckham puts the pressure on Gettleman to nail his draft picks, because — for now — his decisions aren’t looking wise.