Getty Browns WR Odell Beckham Jr. celebrates with fellow WR Jarvis Landry
Aaron Rodgers will make a huge decision about his future in a little over a week, but one analyst thinks he knows how to sway the Green Bay Packers quarterback. Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report proposed a scenario that isn’t all together unrealistic: He has the Packers sending a fairly insignificant amount of draft capital to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
The desire to find a powerhouse wideout to pair with All-Pro Davante Adams has been well-known for quite some time in Green Bay, and Cleveland’s three-time Pro Bowler would certainly qualify. Is this even feasible? Gagnon certainly thinks it could happen, and he has some interesting thoughts about it.
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OBJ for 2nd Round Pick Would Be Steal for Packers
Here’s the hypothetical trade proposed by Gagnon:
- Packers get: WR Odell Beckham Jr.
- Browns get: 2022 2nd round pick
“Beckham has been a superstar and could crush it with Adams and Rodgers in Green Bay, especially if he’s refreshed in a new setting. His presence would boost Green Bay’s chances of unseating the Bucs in the NFC,” Gagnon wrote before noting one primary issue that comes with OBJ:
“His durability is a potential concern, and he just hasn’t been as effective in Cleveland as he was with the New York Giants earlier in his career. This way, the Browns would at least get him out of the conference and collect some draft capital, and his departure would likely bolster the Packers without severely changing expectations for the Browns.”
The 28-year-old wideout played just seven games last season after suffering a torn ACL. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski told the NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala in late April that OBJ was “progressing very well. He’s trending in the right direction,” so he’ll presumably be ready to go at the start of the 2021 season.
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Could Addition of OBJ Entice Rodgers?
Beckham signed a five-year, $95 million deal with the New York Giants that included $41 million guaranteed in 2018. He was traded to Cleveland the following season, but his underwhelming two seasons playing with Baker Mayfield (he has 97 catches on 176 targets for 1,354 yards and seven touchdowns in 23 games with the Browns) resulted in trade rumors this past spring.
Could catching passes from one of the all-time greats not only reinvigorate his career but provide Rodgers with a new reason to return to the team? Gagnon says the latter is entirely possible:
It’s possible the Packers will either entice Rodgers to return or thank him for doing so by adding a veteran star to team up with Adams at that position. After all, Packers fans have been clamoring for the team to add more talent to the receiving corps for years, and Beckham immediately comes to mind here. The Cleveland Browns were remarkably impressive offensively without Beckham down the stretch last year, and they can save $15.8 million by jettisoning him elsewhere now. With the underrated Rashard Higgins back to work with reliable five-time Pro Bowler Jarvis Landry, a team that used two picks in the top four rounds in April’s draft on wideouts might decide it is better off pocketing that cash and what I’d project to be a Day 2 pick in a trade.
Beckham will come with a $15.75 million cap hit in 2021, but that’s not a deal-breaker for Green Bay, who could still cut a player or two to free up some cap space, while also possibly restructuring a contract or two.
It’s absolutely a long shot, but an Adams-OBJ pairing is more than a tad intriguing. If there’s any chance the Pack could make it happen, they should at least try.
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