By The Athletic NFL Staff
Mar 13, 2019
So, that just happened. Odell Beckham Jr. is now a member of the Cleveland Browns and all of our heads are still collectively spinning from the news. To be fair, it’s not like we didn’t have apt warning — Jay Glazer did predict in February that Beckham would be moved this offseason, but now that it actually happened, it’s still pretty difficult to wrap our heads around. The official deal: The Browns get Beckham Jr., a 26-year-old three-time Pro Bowl selection with 44 career receiving touchdowns, in exchange for Cleveland’s first-round pick, a third-rounder and safety Jabrill Peppers, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
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What are the Giants doing?! Can the Browns actually be considered Super Bowl contenders now?? So many questions. We’ve got a live discussion going here if you want to vent, and Lindsay Jones already graded the trade here. We also wrangled together some writers and editors to give us their reaction as we try to figure it all out.
JASON LLOYD: He isn’t even officially on the roster yet and Odell Beckham Jr. is already the best wide receiver in Browns history. There have been other Hall of Famers, sure, but they played here 50 years ago in an era when receivers weren’t built like this and didn’t run like this. But it’s more than just his talent. Beckham’s arrival in Cleveland signals a new era of football for a rabid fan base that has been dormant for 25 years. Beckham thrusts the Browns – yes, the Browns –into instant Super Bowl contenders. He gives Baker Mayfield the type of weapon and home-run threat that franchise quarterbacks covet. And when combined with Jarvis Landry, Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, the Browns will challenge the Chiefs next year for the most high-powered attack in the AFC. Given the price they paid and the structure of Beckham’s contract, there is minimal risk involved. Beckham has been a malcontent in the past, sure, but in Landry and Browns receivers coach Adam Henry, Beckham will be surrounded by familiar faces with whom he is comfortable. Cleveland lost LeBron again, but no one seems to mind anymore. The Browns are back.
MICHAEL LOMBARDI: I love this trade for the Browns. They need experienced players to blend into their talented roster and so losing draft capital is not as big of a deal. Jabrill Peppers was never a first-round talent and was expendable. You never want to be too old or too young as a team and adding Beckham makes an impact right away. For the Giants, why did they re-sign Beckham? How could they misevaluate their team so badly? They refuse to see the decline in their starting quarterback and that lack of awareness has forced them into major mistakes. Be warned, Giants fans, the 2019 season will look like Fixer Upper minus Chip and Joanna.
JEFF HOWE: On Monday, when I initially heard the megastar receiver was still on the market from multiple sources, I started to get the impression the Giants were gauging the best offers that were on the table for Beckham. I heard five teams that were specifically involved in the discussions with the Giants, although one was in the NFC East and I don’t believe the Giants would have kept Beckham in the division. One source on a team the Giants called said the Giants were talking to “everyone” about Beckham. The Giants were the ones who initiated these discussions — not the other way around, a major sign of a team that was willing to make a move if it could find an acceptable price.
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As for the Patriots and Beckham, I was told they had at least two conversations with the Giants in 2018, including once during the season. I don’t have any concrete knowledge the Patriots were involved again this week, but considering the Giants were operating as telemarketers, I’d be shocked if they didn’t at least circle back with New England.
DAN DUGGAN: I was skeptical of Dave Gettleman’s plan when he let Landon Collins walk. I’m completely baffled now. He just dealt one of the three best receivers in the league less than seven months after giving Beckham a $90 million extension. And it’s not as if the Giants got the king’s ransom that was expected to be necessary for Gettleman (and ownership) to pull the trigger on a trade. More dominoes are going to have to fall because right now the franchise looks clueless.
ZAC JACKSON: The Browns stole Odell Beckham Jr. I knew their interest was real, but I thought the time to do the deal was last year, when the Browns had a bunch of draft picks and Beckham hadn’t yet signed his mega-deal. To get Beckham for a mid-first-round pick, a third and Jabrill Peppers — who’s a rising player but is simply replacing Landon Collins with the Giants — is theft by John Dorsey. The Browns are going to be a national TV darling, and with a healthy and productive Beckham, they might be real AFC contenders sooner rather than later.
SHEIL KAPADIA: If it wasn’t clear before, it is now. The Giants are a directionless franchise that’s been making irrational decisions for two years running. Last year, their plan was to draft Saquon Barkley, stick with Eli Manning and try to be competitive. Now they just gave away Beckham, a generational talent in his prime, for pennies on the dollar. This move comes seven months after the Giants signed Beckham to a five-year, $90 million extension. It seems obvious that GM Dave Gettleman has no real plan other than to let Manning play until his arm falls off. This move for the Browns, meanwhile, is a home run. They’ve been aggressively moving to acquire talent on both sides of the ball and already have a pretty complete roster going into the draft.
LINDSAY JONES: The Browns are all in for building around Mayfield, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, and have made a statement that they believe they can be a major contender in the AFC North as soon as next season. Beckham’s contract is massive, but the Browns, after years of rebuilding and with their quarterback on a rookie contract, have room to take on a major deal, especially for a player like Beckham, who is among the top three at his position in the NFL. What’s stunning is not that the Browns pulled off the trade; it’s that the Giants were willing to let Beckham go. Sure, Beckham has caused more than his share of headaches for Giants coaches and owners, but he’s a rare talent and a mega-star, one whom they gave a $90 million extension last August. To move on so quickly leaves major questions about the Giants’ direction and just what exactly they plan to do in what is likely to be Eli Manning’s last season in New York.
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ROSS TUCKER: This is all speculation, but the only possible explanation for the Giants to make this move is that Odell Beckham, Jr. is a gigantic pain in the butt behind the scenes and the team felt like they’d be better off moving forward without him. I’m not in that locker room so I don’t know what he’s like but my guess is that they thought after he was on his best behavior leading up to getting the contract in August that he would continue acting that way and the next thing you know he’s complaining about Eli Manning to Lil’ Wayne. Not exactly the Giant way and probably the beginning of the end. That said, you can’t give a guy that kind of money in August and then trade him in March and think that’s good business, especially given the relative pittance they got in return.
As for the Browns, it’s hard not to love the move. They already were looking like an AFC North title contender and getting OBJ makes them the favorite now in my mind, especially when you juxtapose it with the losses the Steelers and Ravens have suffered. When healthy, he’s a difference making player and perhaps the best part of it from Cleveland’s perspective is that his best friend Jarvis Landry is on the team and will hopefully be able to keep him focused on the task of winning football games and nothing else. The only concern are these reports that he wants a contract adjustment. After just getting a top of the market deal on August 27th to already be wanting a contract adjustment in Cleveland has to be a little scary for the Browns front office.
AMY PARLAPIANO: The only player the Giants won’t cut ties with is the 38-year-old quarterback who’s been actively bad for a couple of seasons now. It’s not like this is completely out of the blue — we know these rumors have been out there, but it seemed like we all figured that if it was indeed going to happen, it would be for a worthy price. If you can’t get two first-rounders out of this deal (a return that Odell Beckham is worth) they should have at least gotten a second-rounder rather than settling for a third. Good luck to Saquon Barkley, who will now have no help at all as the franchise relies entirely on his playmaking abilities. As for the Browns, it’s not an exaggeration to say that they have just catapulted into AFC North favorite status. The Steelers are losing two of the best offensive players in the game and are now watching a division rival gain one of the other best. The Ravens have lost a ton of free agents in the last two days, and the Bengals have made no real splash. The Browns, meanwhile, have shored up their defense with Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson and have now gone out and pulled off the trade of the year. Baker-to-Odell means the AFC North may just be the Browns’ division to lose.
TED NGUYEN: Though OBJ wore out his welcome in New York, there is no doubt he is a top-three receiver and one of the most talented players in the league. He has the speed to get behind a defense, runs sharp routes and can make some of the acrobatic catches we’ve ever witnessed. I was almost certain it would take at least two first-round draft picks to acquire a young player at the top of his position but the Browns got him for much less. He’s been hampered by poor quarterback play in the last couple of years, and now he’ll get to play with a budding star: Baker Mayfield. Mayfield’s uncanny accuracy and aggressive nature is going to unlock Beckham Jr.’s potential, and for AFC North opponents, it’s going to be scary. You can’t totally discount Beckham Jr.’s propensity for the dramatic, which led to him being shipped out of New York, but this trade might be exactly what he needed to get him focused.
JAY GLAZER: Only a complete and utter jagoff would say this would happen.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
