Getty Odell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns.
Another day, another Odell Beckham Jr. trade rumor. While the speculation surrounding the three-time Pro Bowl receiver has become exhausting during his tenure with the Cleveland Browns, his less than stellar play on the field and lack of chemistry with Baker Mayfield has fueled the rumors.
The latest rumor come from Mike Francesa of WFAN, who has heard the Browns are shopping Beckham and that the asking price is very high.
“I hear Browns, who are clueless, looking to trade Odell,” Francesa wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “They are asking a lot. I don’t often defend Beckham, but he isn’t the problem.”
I hear Browns, who are clueless, looking to trade Odell
The Browns traded for Beckham last offseason, albeit it was under the former regime. It cost the franchise 2017 first-round safety Jabrill Peppers — who is now excelling with the New York Giants — and first and third-round picks in the 2019 draft.
They are asking a lot. I don’t often defend Beckham, but he isn’t the problem.
The asking price via trade would not only be high for Beckham, but a team would also need the cap room to take him on. His cap hit this year is $14.25 million.
Odell Beckham: I Just Want to Help
GettyOdell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns.
Despite breaking the 1,000-yard barrier last season, Beckham did not live up to the wild expectations set for him, mostly because the injuries kept him from playing at his full potential. He finished his first season in Cleveland with 1,035 yards and four touchdowns playing from behind from the get-go due to injuries.
His 2020 season — which he predicted would be the best of his career — did not start on a high note, with Beckham managing just three catches for 22 yards on a team-high 10 targets in the 38-6 loss to the Ravens.
“It’s a tough position to be in with the way that I feel like I’ve been misrepresented to the world,” Beckham said. “It makes it hard to just seem as if ,’Oh, I just want the ball’ and all these things when really, I just want to help. I just want to be able to help this team in any way that I can.
“You kind of get the sense of just playing your role and you have to trust that the coaches are going to put you in the right position and we’re gonna be able to go from there. I’m not very vocal about that thing and that could be my fault and something I need to learn from. Like I said, it’s the first game.”
Baker Mayfield Says He’s Not Forcing Ball to Baker Mayfield
One of the main problems has been the lack of chemistry between quarterback Baker Mayfield in Beckham. The 10 targets showed that Mayfield was trying to get Beckham involved, but it might have hindered the offense from clicking.
Mayfield pointed to seeing single-coverage on Beckham for
“Based on if you guys were to watch it, there were a lot of one on ones, and we take our one-on-one matchups,” Mayfield said. “I trust those guys, and that’s what they’re paid to do is one-on-one plays. That is a certain thing if my reads are taking me there, it might have looked that way, but that is a one-on-one matchup.”
#Browns Baker Mayfield said he was taking his one-on-one matchups with Odell Beckham and wasn’t forcing the ball to him
“Obviously, you game plan and you scheme up things to get the ball in your playmakers’ hands, but when it comes to game time, they’re going to give us certain looks that might take it that away. We had a couple plays for him early on, and the Ravens did a good job of taking that away so we had to go through the reads and get the ball into other guys’ hands.
“When it comes to game time, yeah, you can practice, practice, practice and you might have a certain look all week in practice, but then come game time they might show you a different thing and you have to react, play and just move on. It has to come naturally.”
Beckham said he likes to get involved early and often, comparing it to a basketball player hitting some early 3-pointers.
“You hit one, two of them, like, God knows you might drop 60, you know what I mean?” Beckham told reporters. “I would love to get involved early, but it just didn’t go that way Sunday. And like I said, you’ve got to give your hats off to the other team sometimes. They just came out and they just played better than us.”
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