For the second time in as many NFL seasons, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is a free agent. After the Cleveland Browns released him in 2021, he hit the open market and saw a flurry of teams express interest.
To the surprise of many, he joined the Los Angeles Rams and played a major role in their successful run to a Super Bowl victory before he tore his ACL against the Cincinnati Bengals in the big game.
Fast forward a year later, and Beckham is again a free agent and is working hard to get back on the field after the ACL injury. A recent report stated that Beckham would be ready to go by mid-November, kicking into high gear teams’ desires to sign him to a deal.
Earlier this week, Beckham tweeted frustration with the Rams’ lack of activity on the contract front, although head coach Sean McVay insisted there would be more offers coming his way.
Now another report has surfaced on Beckham’s contract desires.
Odell Wants Michael Gallup Money
As Beckham nears his return, he has a lot of interested teams, including the Rams, Chiefs, Buccaneers, and Packers. The Giants and Bills are also interested teams, and it will be a wild run to see which contender lands Beckham.
A day after Beckham’s tweets went viral, NFL insider Ian Rapoport revealed the desire for Beckham’s next contract — and it’s quite surprising.
Here’s some of what Rapoport said:
“What he hoped was more of a Michael Gallup situation, get it, where he tears his ACL, the team knows him, they believe in him. They offer him a big multi-year deal taking into account that he tore his ACL and would not be back until mid-November and then he was locked up and just had a team for the next several years.”
So, that clarifies things a little bit. Beckham wants a similar situation to Dallas Cowboys WR Michael Gallup. Gallup tore his ACL, but the Cowboys signed him to a five-year, $62.5 million deal in the offseason despite the injury.
Gallup has barely returned to the field for Dallas, but that seems to be a similar situation to what Beckham wants.
What Will the Rams Offer OBJ?
This is the question: What will the Rams offer OBJ?
At this point, who knows? However, it seems strange and unlikely that Beckham gets anywhere near the contract of Gallup. For starters, Gallup is 26 years old, while Beckham will turn 30 at the start of November.
On another note, Beckham’s run with the Cleveland Browns was not very spectacular, and the way he left the Giants wasn’t something anybody hoped for, either.
According to Spotrac, the Rams have just north of $5 million in cap space this year, so any contract in the ballpark of Gallup’s will need to be backloaded. Moreover, LA just signed Allen Robinson to a three-year, $46.5 million deal this offseason, so investing heavily in the WR room again might be tough.
There is no secret that the Rams can use Beckham on offense, especially with the way the offense has started this season. But, if Beckham wants Gallup-type money, he might not be able to return to Hollywood.
It will be interesting to see what the other teams offer Beckham, and only time will tell which uniform he will be wearing next.
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NFL Insider Reveals Odell Beckham Jr.’s Contract Desire