Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been linked to free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. dating back to November. But the Annual League Meeting was the first time Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke about Odell Beckham Jr. since the offseason began.
“Odell is a good football player. Yeah, he does a nice job,” Reid said, via NFL Media’s Steve Wyche on March 25. “So, we’ll see how all that goes.”
The Chiefs’ interest in Beckham, just like the remainder of the NFL, will largely be reliant upon his contract demands.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported on March 11 that Beckham is still looking for a contract that fetches him $20 million per season. However, Odell took to Twitter on March 18 to refute that narrative by stating he’s never claimed to have wanted $20 million/year but also doesn’t want just $4 million/year in his next NFL contract. So, although he didn’t make his demands crystal clear he did narrow his asking price down to a more specific — yet still wide — range.
Chiefs Have Shown Interest in Odell Beckham This Offseason
On March 10, the Chiefs were one of 11 teams that attended Odell Beckham Jr.’s workout in Arizona, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. Six days later, Jordan Schultz of the Score revealed that Kansas City was one of a handful of teams that have continued to show interest in Beckham post-workout.
Odell, 30, suffered a torn ACL during the 2022 Super Bowl as a member of the Los Angeles Rams and took the following 13 months to fully recover from it. That included missing the entirety of the 2022 NFL season. The March 10 workout was to display that Beckham has fully recovered from his torn ACL and is ready to play football in the NFL again.
The defending Super Bowl champions have been linked to Odell dating back to October mainly due to NFL pundits naming the Chiefs as an ideal landing spot for him. Yet, the former All-Pro receiver has also made it publicly known in the past that he would consider playing for the Chiefs, and teased at it potentially happening as recently as February 13.
“He’s a heck of a football player, that I can tell you. I don’t know where he is as far as his rehab goes and that whole deal,” Andy Reid said of Odell on October 21, via Chiefs Wire. “I don’t really know what (General Manager) Brett (Veach) is (doing). Brett’s always maneuvering. He keeps his eyes open on everything. In my position, I’m like (motions forward) tunneled in on what I’m doing and trying to get the team ready to play with the guys that we’ve got. I’m not going to slight (OBJ), he’s a good football player.”
Rumors swirled prior to the Super Bowl that Odell might be signed by the Chiefs, who were tending to injuries in their receiver room during their Super Bowl run. But Kansas City never signed him despite a late January workout video showing Beckham closing in on 100% health.
With JuJu Smith-Schuster signing a three-year deal with the New England Patriots this offseason, the Chiefs are in need of another veteran pass catcher to put in the receiver room. Kansas City’s current receiver room consists of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, Cornell Powell, Justyn Ross, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Jerrion Ealy, and Ty Fryfogle.
Odell Beckham Jr.’s Career Stats
Since entering the NFL as the 12th overall pick by the New York Giants in 2014, Odell Beckham Jr. has five 1,000-yard seasons, 56 total receiving touchdowns, has been named an All-Pro and Pro Bowler three times along with being named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2014.
During his last healthy season, the 2021 season, Odell accumulated 44 receptions on 82 targets for 537 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns in six regular season games with the Cleveland Browns and eight with the Rams per Pro Football Reference. During Los Angeles’ Super Bowl run that season, Beckham registered 21 catches on 26 targets for 288 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in four games played.