EAST RUTHERFORD – Odell Beckham Jr. and the New York Giants have been flirting with each other for nearly two months about a potential reunion.
John Harbaugh called Beckham “one of my very favorite people in the world,” having coached him for a year in Baltimore. Beckham wants more than anything to bring his NFL career full circle by catching passes from Jaxson Dart and providing a generation of Giants fans who never had the chance to say thank you and good-bye with that opportunity all these years later.
All of the above makes for a great story.
But it’s not solely why the second marriage of Beckham and the Giants should happen.
The time is now for the Giants to sign Beckham not for nostalgia, but because they need each other.
The Giants hope Malik Nabers is on the field and ready to go for Week 1, but it’s an uncertain timetable as he recovers from ACL surgery. Darius Slayton is out until training camp after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia. A rehabbing Cam Skattebo is still working his way back from the dislocated ankle that ended his rookie season.
Tight ends Isaiah Likely and Theo Johnson were Dart’s most impressive targets in the third OTA (offseason team activity) on Thursday. Newcomers Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin will get chances, but neither has a defined role just yet.
The Giants drafted Notre Dame wide receiver Malachi Fields in the third round, trading a package of three picks to the Cleveland Browns for the 74th overall selection. But Fields, at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, is a different physical profile and in terms of play style than Beckham, so his addition does not necessarily rule anything out.
It’s only OTAs, of course, but it’s clear the Giants could use more options.
That’s why cashing in the lottery ticket that Beckham represents before the spring is out – even at age 33 – is worth the gamble.
“Odell wants to be the kind of player that can make a difference,” Harbaugh said recently. “I’m pretty sure that he can make a team in the National Football League right now, but can he make a difference? It’s something he wants to do. Is his body going to hold up in the way he wants it to? And all those things are questions that need to get answered for anybody at that age. You know Odell. He’s confident, man. He’s confident. He’s working hard. He believes in himself.”
Beckham worked out last month for the team that selected him with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, setting the stage for his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
When Beckham left the Giants, traded away by a previous regime in 2018, a return for one of the most popular yet polarizing playmakers in franchise history seemed improbable at best. That’s no longer the case, and even if nothing is finalized, it won’t be because of bad feelings on either side.
A source close to Beckham recently indicated to NorthJersey.com and The Record that he is “really, really hoping” to rejoin the team that drafted him and for whom he swiftly reached unexpected heights and worldwide popularity. “The Catch” created the OBJ phenomenon, with one-handed catches taking on a life of their own, and at every level of the sport.
Yet a Beckham return would not be as that OBJ, but as Harbaugh suggested, Odell 2.0.
The Giants parted ways with Beckham less than a year after he signed a massive contract extension. Co-owner and team president John Mara once compared Beckham to Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor with regard to impact he had on the franchise, and his popularity was, well, Giant.
Beckham won a Super Bowl with the Rams after the 2021 season but tore his ACL in the game. With the Ravens (2023) and Dolphins (2024), he showed only glimpses of his past greatness before not playing at all last season.
How would Odell Beckham Jr. fit with NY Giants?
Beckham stoked the flames somewhat for a potential comeback in March at the Fanatics’ Flag Football event in Los Angeles. He played with fellow NFL stars against Team USA and showed some burst and elusive athleticism, especially in the red zone. There was even a one-handed grab in the back of the end zone over a defender that brought flashbacks of OBJ the Giant.
Beckham played the first 59 games of his NFL career with the Giants, producing stats on par with some of the greatest receivers to ever suit up. His 5,476 receiving yards and 44 TDs compared to Jerry Rice (4,852 yards, 49 TDs), Larry Fitzgerald (4,373 yards, 32 TDs), Calvin Johnson (4,139 yards, 33 TDs) and Antonio Brown (4,072 yards, 20 TDs).
Beckham, the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year, missed the first four games of his first season with a hamstring issue before embarking on one of the most productive campaigns in NFL history. He played in just four games in 2017 before needing surgery to repair a fractured ankle, and came back in 2018, posting 77 receptions for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games before missing the last month with a quad contusion.
Possible Giants teammates contributed to the buzz when Dart posted a photo with Beckham on his Instagram page as part of a collage from Super Bowl week in San Francisco. Defensive star Brian Burns liked the image, while Malik Nabers’ reply on Beckham’s post from the flag football game drew plenty of attention, one LSU standout to another: “Let’s play together!”
Then the OBJ saga took another turn when the former Pro Bowler, who has a home in the Phoenix area, stopped by the Arizona Biltmore for the league’s reception last month. One of those with whom Beckham spent time: Harbaugh.
This was a social encounter, mind you, but the timing made for undeniable intrigue.
So where does Beckham stand in terms of expectations? He wants to be a Giant, and the Giants would love to have him back. There are those in the organization that never wanted him gone. As far as financial compensation goes, Beckham would come for a contract at the league’s minimum.
Beckham is back in Arizona with his son, Zydn, and he continues to train in order to be ready for if and when the call from the Giants come. He’s stayed in contact with Harbaugh, and in terms of timing, getting Beckham into the building before the end of the offseason program would be beneficial for both.
Sign Beckham between now and mandatory minicamp (June 8-10). Have a news conference in which he can address his return, his expectations and that of Harbaugh and the team, and then send the players off to their abbreviated summer vacation in advance of the start of training camp in West Virginia on July 28.
There are always going to be detractors when it comes to Beckham, and he brought a lot of that upon himself when he was younger. He made mistakes out of immaturity and ego, but truth be told, at the heart of everything, Beckham was frustrated with losing and desperately wanted to win as a Giant.
Beckham can’t make up for what he did not do to repair his relationship with Eli Manning after that ill-fated ESPN sit down interview next to Lil’ Wayne. The kicking net. The perceived ask out of town.
This next chapter, if it were to happen, won’t be about any of that, however, nor should it be.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Why NY Giants should sign Odell Beckham Jr. right now