Steph Chambers/Getty Images Odell Beckham Jr. wants to still catch passes from Matthew Stafford.
The meat of the NFL offseason is over. Most of the big named free agents have signed. The star players have been traded. The draft has come and gone. And even the schedule for the upcoming season’s been released.
With all of that said, the Los Angeles Rams still have some work to do. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who ended up playing a key role in the Rams’ Super Bowl run after getting signed in November, is still a free agent.
Luckily for the Rams, it appears that the star receiver wants to return to Los Angeles. However, it comes with a caveat.
Odell Beckham Jr. Shared He’s Told Rams He Wants to Stay in Los Angeles
While Rams fans and media speculated if recently released Giants cornerback James Bradberry could end up in Los Angeles, one fan mentioned that the team should sign Beckham before doing anything else.
Beckham saw the tweet and appeared to give an update on his contract negotiations to stay with the Rams.
“They know [where] I wanna be 😂😂,” Beckham wrote in a tweet, referencing the Rams. “just can’t play for free !”
@jonjohnrobinson @JKBOGEN @RamsNFL They kno whwre I wanna be 😂😂 just can’t play for free !
Beckham isn’t taking offense though of the Rams during contract negotiations.
“It’s just the businesss! It’s nothin personal I get it,” Beckham wrote in another tweet.
@grizzlly223 @jonjohnrobinson @JKBOGEN @RamsNFL It’s just the businesss! It’s nothin personal I get it
The contract negotiations for Beckham are a bit tricky to solve for multiple reasons. Beckham looked like the All-Pro receiver he was with the Giants during his 12-game stretch with the Rams, recording 48 receptions for 593 yards and seven touchdowns, including the playoffs.
But Beckham tore the ACL in his left knee for a second time in two seasons during Super Bowl LVI. Beckham did have successful surgery not long after the game. However, he’ll be out until early November, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. That’s also the same month Beckham turns 30.
Prior to the start of free agency in March, Pro Football Focus predicted that Beckham would re-sign with the Rams on a one-year, $14 million deal with $12.5 million guaranteed. Fitting a contract like that would be a bit tough for the Rams right now though. They only have $5.4 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap, so other moves would have to be made in order to re-sign Beckham to that kind of deal.
Los Angeles already made a big investment at receiver earlier in the offseason, signing Allen Robinson to a three-year, $45 million deal in March. It did trade veteran receiver Robert Woods to Tennessee though, so there might still be room for Beckham in Los Angeles.
How the Rams Feel About Bringing Back Beckham
Veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford wasn’t shy in saying he wanted Beckham back in Los Angeles.
“I’ve been in contact with him, both checking on his knee, his new addition to his family, and just letting him know that we’d love to still have him,” Stafford said during an interview on “SportsCenter” in April. “It was an unbelievable blessing to get the chance to play with a talented player like that and honestly, such a great teammate. He was awesome from the second he stepped into our facility, which was a tough situation to learn as much as he had to learn as quickly as he did. It was really impressive to watch him go out there and do his thing and hopefully we get some more time together.”
Rams head coach Sean McVay shared a similar desire to keep Beckham in Tinseltown for the foreseeable future.
“Odell is someone we want to continue to work with. I can’t say enough about him as a teammate, as a person,” McVay said in March. “I really love him. Cherish our relationship that we were able to establish and develop, and I’m hopefully that there will be many more years to come with us working together.”