First things first: You have to tip your cap to Odell Beckham Jr. and his representation. He did not get a deal from the Ravens designed solely for the NFL’s scoop merchants to breathlessly tweet out phony-baloney numbers. Fifteen million guaranteed is nothing to scoff at. It’s about $8-10 million more in hard cash than I thought Beckham would end up with. Kudos to Team OBJ for finding a way to get paid after a long and often ridiculous saga.
All that said … congratulations are also in order for the Giants and Jets. Because they just lucked out.
The case against Beckham returning to town for either club often starts with the extracurricular stuff. And there has been plenty of that and will almost assuredly continue to be plenty more. But this argument can be made solely on football merits.
JETS MOCK DRAFT: Building Aaron Rodgers an elite offensive line
Beckham is a 30-year-old wide receiver (31 in November) who has not played a down in over a year. He has suffered three significant lower-body injuries (two torn ACLs in the same knee, broken ankle) in his career, as well as battled hamstring and quadriceps issues. And depending on how you do your math, he has either missed a quarter or a third of the regular season games contested since he entered the league. Each NFL team has played 146 regular season games since Beckham was drafted into the league, while has played in just 96.
So yeah. Not worth it for the Jets’ No. 3 receiver. And not worth it for a guy who would inevitably scream at Daniel Jones on the Giants’ sideline before Halloween. Good luck to the Ravens. And to Beckham, who is slated to catch passes from Tyler Huntley at the moment.
MORE ON ESNY:
• Tennessee Titans just made Dexter Lawrence, Quinnen Williams a lot of money
• What does WFAN do if Craig Carton bolts for FS1?
• Former Mets pitcher electrifies crowd in Japan by hitting RBI double
• What’s stopping Nets from beating Sixers? The (should-be) NBA MVP
• In an alternate reality, both Mike Trout, Aaron Judge are Yankees
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.
