The Minnesota Vikings terminated Odell Beckham Jr.’s contract on Tuesday, just one day after promoting the veteran receiver to the 53-man roster.
The move came about two hours after Minnesota agreed to send a 2027 third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for quarterback Kirk Cousins, who played for the Vikings from 2018 to 2023. The trade is pending a physical.
So why now? The team offered no explanation beyond the transaction itself. But according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, the Vikings are re-signing the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver to their practice squad.
Beckham’s release and Cousins’ return landed on the same trade deadline afternoon, but nothing in Minnesota’s announcement ties one to the other. What the timing does show is an offense in need of a fix. The Vikings rank 31st in total yards and have scored 16 or fewer points in five of eight games. Kyler Murray, nursing a hamstring injury, has started six games with five touchdown passes and three interceptions.
Odell Beckham Jr.’s Short Minnesota Vikings Run
Beckham’s 2026 never got going, in New York or Minnesota. The Giants signed a one-year, nonguaranteed contract with him on June 1, after he missed all of 2025. He made the roster, but played only 20 offensive snaps over three games, drawing one target and no catches, before New York cut him on Sept. 29.
The Giants’ decision stung.
“They got me. They won,” Beckham wrote afterward.
Minnesota moved fast. On Oct. 7, the Vikings added free agent receiver Beckham to the practice squad, with Justin Jefferson nursing a sprained left ankle and Jordan Addison hurt as well. Head coach Kevin O’Connell had been the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2021, when Beckham played for that team.
“I’ve seen him do it before,” O’Connell said, according to ESPN.
Beckham said the pursuit mattered to him.
“It seemed as if he wanted me to be here and that was expressed to me,” he said.
The Vikings signed him to the active roster for Monday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills, with Jauan Jennings out. Beckham played two snaps, with no targets and no catches, in a 23-6 loss. That was the full extent of his Minnesota playing time.
Odell Beckham Jr.’s Career and Next Move
Beckham turned 34 on Nov. 5. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he starred at LSU, where he earned the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player. The Giants drafted him 12th overall in 2014, and he won AP Offensive Rookie of the Year before making three Pro Bowls from 2014 to 2016.
New York rewarded him with a five-year extension worth up to $95 million in 2018, then traded him to Cleveland the next year. The Browns waived him in 2021, and he landed with the Rams, where he caught 27 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns in eight regular-season games. He scored the opening touchdown of Super Bowl LVI, then tore his ACL in the second quarter. The Rams won that game.
A year with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023 produced 35 catches for 565 yards and three touchdowns. In 2024, Beckham and the Miami Dolphins mutually agreed to part ways in December, after he caught nine passes for 55 yards. His career totals now stand at 575 catches, 7,987 yards and 59 receiving touchdowns.
What comes next? Beckham is returning to the practice squad, where other teams can sign him to their 53-man rosters, subject to NFL rules.
Vikings Release 3-Time Pro Bowl Receiver Hours After Adding QB Kirk Cousins