4 thoughts as Odell Beckham Jr. returns to Giants

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

The Giants have finally done it. They have re-signed Odell Beckham Jr., bringing the mercurial wide receiver back into the Big Blue fold seven years after he was traded to the Browns and following several instances of reunion speculation and near-misses over the last few seasons. The move was soundly celebrated by fans, Beckham’s local media pals and the team, which pumped out a social media video that would make you believe Beckham actually won something here in his first go-round.

Beckham was one of the NFL’s best players during his time as a Giant and had electrifying moments of on-field brilliance. He was also a frequent distraction and colossal headache who undermined two head coaches with his antics and flopped in his only playoff appearance before being unceremoniously shipped to Cleveland. And now he is back, trying to wrap up a career that has unraveled due to injuries after a meteoric rise and will fall well short of Canton in the end.

Some thoughts on the return:

This was a dumb move. Beckham is 33, he sat out the entirety of last season, he has missed 57% of the possible regular season games he could have played over the last five years and no one else in the NFL wanted him. And then you throw in all of his baggage. It’s just not worth it unless the goal is to sell jerseys and make people forget all about Steve Tisch, Dexter Lawrence and Jaxson Dart/Abdul Carter. Which may be the goal!

But not as dumb as it would have been in the past. The Giants were being reckless when they danced with Beckham during their surprise playoff run in 2022 and the subsequent offseason. But now he’s just a warm body on a veteran contract who has no guarantees of making the roster. And we would be surprised if he actually makes the roster at this point. It’s hard to see where Beckham — who does not play special teams — would fit in if Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton are healthy (or healthy enough) come Week 1. We’d put much better odds on the other two new signings — Braxton Berrios and JuJu Smith-Schuster — making the cut at the end of the preseason.

This is on John Harbaugh: It’s up to him to keep the Beckham experience/experiment on the rails. Bringing him in does feel like a bit of an ego play by the coach — especially given his locker room has already had some issues in the early going. There are still myriad less-than-ideal directions this signing could go from a football standpoint.

Let’s cool it with the revisionist history. This is not Tom Seaver returning to town. This isn’t even what Matt Harvey coming back would have been because he at least got to the World Series. Beckham is a footnote in New York sports history. A flashy one, sure, but still just a footnote. No rings, no Ring of Honor (although you never know with the Giants’ unserious ownership) and no retired number or Hall of Fame induction. Maybe it has a nice full circle ending, but it will be an uphill climb.