The New York Giants are taking a chance on Odell Beckham Jr., even with a 1-year, $1.3 million contract for the 2026 season.
OBJ, inarguably 1 of the most popular Giants of all time, returns to New York after missing all of the 2025 season, which was his 2nd yearlong absence in the last 4 seasons following his missing all of the 2022 season after he tore his ACL in a Super Bowl win for the Rams.
Pro Football Focus NFL reporter Bradley Locker put OBJ on his list of players returning in 2026 after sitting out all of 2025 who seem ready to “reassert” themselves as contributors or stars for their teams.
“The circumstances finally appear to be trending upward for Beckham,” Locker wrote. “After being released by the Dolphins during the 2024 campaign and being suspended for six games due to a performance-enhancing drug violation last year, he’s now back with the Giants on a one-year pact … the two-time All-Pro being back in blue for the first time since 2018 is nostalgic in and of itself, but he should also have a legitimate shot at being a meaningful option in the passing game. With wideout Malik Nabers still recovering from an ACL and meniscus tear, Beckham is now part of a receiving corps that seems to lack every-down difference-makers through the first few weeks. It remains to be seen how effective the 33-year-old can still be in 2026, but targets are there to be seized from Jaxson Dart in New York.”
Giants Signed 3 Veteran Wide Receivers in 1 Day
OBJ was part of a run on veteran wide receivers for the Giants, who signed 3 of them to the same 1-year, $1.3 million league minimum contracts on June 1, also bringing in Braxton Berrios and Juju Smith-Schuster.
In total, the Giants have added 7 free agent wide receivers this offseason, also bringing in Calvin Austin, Darnell Mooney, Ryan Miller, and re-signing Isaiah Hodgins.
They also drafted a wide receiver, taking Penn State’s Malachi Fields in the 3rd round (No. 74 overall) of the 2026 NFL Draft. Fields’ draft stock took a massive hit after he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.61 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
“The Giants got their weapon for quarterback Jaxson Dart by trading back into the third round. It cost them picks 105 (Round 4) and 145 (Round 5) in this year’s draft and a 2027 fourth-round pick to get Fields,” ESPN’s Jordan Ranaan wrote in April. “What they get with Fields (6-4, 218) is a big, physical receiver. That is what the Giants were looking for to complement Malik Nabers and vertical deep threats Darius Slayton and Darnell Mooney. He’s the ‘different body type,’ general manager Joe Schoen described. He referred to him as their power forward on the basketball roster.”
OBJ’s 1st Run With Giants 1 for the Ages
OBJ was drafted in the 1st round (No. 12 overall) by the Giants in the 2014 NFL draft out of LSU and shot to fame as a rookie for a 1-handed touchdown catch against the Dallas Cowboys — a game the Giants actually lost — that landed his jersey from that day in a display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
While Beckham signed a 5-year, $90 million contract extension with the Giants in August 2018, he was sent away within a year thanks to a trade with the Cleveland Browns in April 2019.
Beckham had his last 1,000-yard receiving season with the Browns in 2019, missed 9 games in 2020 and was traded to the Los Angeles Rams midway through the 2021 season. He helped lead the Rams to a win in Super Bowl LVI but tore his ACL midway through the game and sat out all of 2022.
Beckham played in 2023 on a 1-year, $15 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens — his last big payday and his last even sort-of productive season with 35 receptions for 565 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Giants Legend ‘Trending Upward’ After Yearlong Absence