An Odell Beckham Jr. trade would absolutely rock the NFL landscape.
A new report from Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News states that the New York Giants could be considering trading Beckham if the price is right. Here’s what the report says officially:
“The News has learned that the Giants’ asking price in a prospective Beckham trade is starting at a first-round pick plus. The “plus” is the negotiable part, but the meaning is that it likely won’t require two first-round picks to get it done.”
Leonard also mentions in this article that the Los Angeles Rams have already held trade discussions with the Giants about trading for Beckham, which would only add onto their already spectacular off-season that has featured acquisitions of Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. They are also favorites in the Ndamukong Suh sweepstakes, per various media reports.
It’s likely that every team in the NFL would check in on the full asking price for Beckham Jr., even if they were set long-term at wide receiver going forward. Of course, there would be more aggressive players for his services than others, but even with all the things he’s not, Beckham Jr. is regarded as a dynamic offensive player that can change an entire team’s offensive scheme.
Beckham Jr. has proven his worth to the Giants over the last last four seasons, as Eli Manning and the Giants offensive as a whole has been better when he is out there. Last season was a nightmare for Beckham Jr. and the Giants, but he shouldn’t be the only one having the blame thrown back onto him.
New York was supposed to have a great receiving core in 2017 with Brandon Marshall joining together with Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard. The organization also drafted tight end Evan Engram to further improve the receiving corps. However, the trio of Beckham Jr., Marshall, and Sheppard combined for just 1,187 yards in 2017 with Sheppard getting 731 of the 1,187 due to both Beckham Jr. and Marshall ending up on injured reserve early in the season.
It’s important to remember that it is still very unlikely Beckham Jr. gets dealt via trade, even with the Giants appearing to retool their roster with the addition of Alec Ogletree and the subtraction of Jason Pierre-Paul already this off-season. Plus, the Giants will lose leverage in every single trade discussion they hold, as Beckham Jr. is set to become a free agent following the 2018 season. That means any team wanting to acquire Beckham Jr. will argue that they need an altering of the asking price to acquire Beckham Jr. unless a long-term extension is agreed to between whatever team and Beckham Jr. as part of the trade. And per reports, it looks like Beckham Jr. won’t step onto the playing field in 2018 unless he has a long-term agreement with some team signed off on.
The bottom line is that in the NFL, almost any player can be traded because of the non-guaranteed contract factor. Perhaps quarterback Kirk Cousins set a new precedent with his fully-guaranteed $84 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings. That is unlikely as well, but what is likely is that Beckham Jr. is going to get his payday one way or another. It just remains to see whether the Giants pony up to it or not, because another NFL team will without a doubt.
For his career, Beckham Jr. has 313 catches for 4,424 yards and 38 touchdowns.
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