Meanwhile, Odell Beckham Jr. was apparently sent home from Browns practice today.
View: https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/1455924113214693382?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/1455924113214693382?s=20
OBJ out in Cleveland?
- Thread starter cshea
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Good. Beckham sucks. He drops passes and complains. And then gets hurt. Odell went out for the season last year and the Browns started winning games and won their first playoff game since the Nixon administration. It was not a coincidence.
The Browns trading for Odell after the Giants stupidly signed him to that ridiculous contract was a real clown car move. Odell's last great season was 2016.
I don't think there is another player in history who got so much clout from one single play.
No disagreement that it's been half a decade since Beckham was truly elite nor that the Browns look stupid for trading for him (nor that he's in a phase of his career where he is better off keeping his/his dad's mouth shut). But the growing 'OBJ was only ever the catch' narrative is equally ridiculous. Maybe that's not exactly what you're saying, but I've seen it elsewhere and it's revisionist history to the extreme. Take away the optics of the catch and he still has 3 seasons of 1300+ yards (good for 10th, 5th, and 3rd in the league) and 2 more seasons of 1000+ yards (one in only 12 games). That his career has been a relative disappointment after a Mossian beginning is one thing, but his peak was not limited to the rookie breakout. Wouldn't shock me at all if he's a top 20ish receiver again at his next stop.
You do wonder, though, if he were to go through waivers, would he be claimed before the Patriots had a chance
Any chance the Browns waive OBJ or does the cap hit mean they're keeping him until end of year?
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/BrownsByBrad/status/1455946723646492681?t=8mJ9zj2htWjtbkyiQ4Khog&s=19
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/BrownsByBrad/status/1455946723646492681?t=8mJ9zj2htWjtbkyiQ4Khog&s=19
Looks like his dead cap hit is only an additional $1,000,000 or so if I'm reading this right.
Oh, thanks for the clarification. I (obviously) have totally missed that, if true. Do you have a link to that? Not doubting you, but I can’t find anything on that beyond some tweets saying he will be subject to waivers.
EDIT - Never mind, looks like even vested veterans are subject to waivers if released after the trading deadline.
There’s only 9 teams with the cap room currently to take on the rest of his contract and if those 9, only Denver, Carolina, Pitt, Cincy, and the Chargers are .500 or better. Denver is in sell mode and Cincy definitely doesn’t need a WR. Not sure the fit on the others, but it’s a small list of teams that could even remotely consider claiming him.
If he clears waivers. If he is claimed, the claiming team assumes his current contract.
If I understand this right, if he clears waivers, anyone may sign him with a fresh contract, which will almost certainly be small.
Did that video show the drops, especially the ones on 4th down? Or is it just a handful of times Odell was open, like all receivers are open, during a span of a few games?
The only one that was truly horrific was that pass against Minnesota. Odell was open and streaking to the end zone and Baker was off in distance and accuracy. It was a pathetic pass. One of the worst misses you will see. It was also a game the Browns won.
But Baker isn't the best QB in the NFL and he's been hurt since Week 2. His numbers in 2021 are poor, at best. He's been terrible. But Odell is a net negative to the team, which obviously Stefanski believes because they are moving on.
No, just a bunch of times Odell was wide open and Mayfield didn't throw to him or threw a horrible pass to him. I'm not defending OBJ. He has his issues. But that collection didn't make Mayfield look very good.
Correct. His new contract will offset what the Browns have to pay him, so there’s no reason for a signing team to pay him more than the minimum.
So, the eventual other side to this coin is pretty simple: If OBJ became available, given the outspokenness and the uncertainty over his current skill level, would you want to saddle a rookie quarterback with that kind of potential distraction?
I'm leaving aside for the moment whether he would want to come to NE, now that Brady's gone. My guess is that there would be mutual interest in Kansas City or, given the tragic circumstances, Vegas
I'm leaving aside for the moment whether he would want to come to NE, now that Brady's gone. My guess is that there would be mutual interest in Kansas City or, given the tragic circumstances, Vegas
They were talking about this on the radio this morning and said that There was another one this weekend where OBJ was wide open for a walk-in TD against them Steelers and was clearly the first read but the ball never came.
If you took the 10 worst passes of any QB over the span of a few games, they would look horrendous.
It's especially sad in the case of Odell, who has had some really bad drops this year.
Baker and OBJ just didn't work. Part of that is on Baker (who isn't a particularly good QB, and also seemed to have no faith in OBJ) and some of it is on OBJ, who is a diva WR who got overrated and overpaid on the back of ridiculous target share and a couple 1 handed grabs. His per target production was really only very good once (2014) after that he was a mediocre efficiency WR who got top 10 target share and turned it into big raw numbers.
If he is not claimed, are the Browns on the hook for the guaranteed money and he becomes a free agent? Isn't that how the Pats acquired Collins this year?
I’d pass. I’m not sure OBJ is good anymore. He certainly hasn’t been a top end receiver since at least 2016, but he hasn’t even been decent since 2019. His last 2 years: 13 games, 40 catches, 551 yards (42 yards/game), 51% catch rate. Baker isn’t great, but over that time period talents like Donovan Peoples-Jones, David Njoku, and Rashard Higgins have put up 100 yard games in the Cleveland offense.
The worst thing for OBJ is he put on those gloves, made an impossible catch, and he believed the bullshit.
I tend to agree. But, if he does sign here, I am going to evoke the "Bill knows more than I do" clause and expect top level production.
I dunno, I've watched a lot of the Browns and the vast majority of the problem falls on the QB. Mayfield is terrible at recognizing pressure and adjusting to it. His sack rate is pathetically high given the strength of that O-Line and running game to take the pressure off of him. OBJ may be a diva, but he's not the problem here.
OBJ would eat in this offense. They'd get him the ball with space and let him YAC it up.
But I don't know why he'd come here if he had a choice to go anywhere.
But I don't know why he'd come here if he had a choice to go anywhere.
I think the gets cut->gets through waivers->wants to play with Mac->Patriots offer acceptable $$ sequence of events is highly unlikely. And there are plenty of good reasons in this thread why I'd be nervous as hell to hitch our wagon to him in any sort of committed sense. But if he could be had for the rest of the season? Sign me all the way up - top WR is still one of the true holes on the roster, and I have extreme confidence in BB/McD/MJ not getting derailed if it goes poorly. It's not happening, but I take that upside 100% of the time.
All his 2021 money is fully guaranteed and then he has none afterward. He's basically on a 2/30 deal for 2022/23 with no guaranteed money.
I don't see what incentive the Browns have to waive him when they could just keep him and try to trade him in the off-season for a late round pick, particularly when they can't control his destination so he could end up with a team they are competing with for a playoff spot. All it costs is a non-game day roster spot.
I don't see what incentive the Browns have to waive him when they could just keep him and try to trade him in the off-season for a late round pick, particularly when they can't control his destination so he could end up with a team they are competing with for a playoff spot. All it costs is a non-game day roster spot.
You’d think he’d want to play with a good QB after years of Manning and Mayfield though.
Maybe? You really do have to watch these guys plays pretty carefully because they can decline so fast. But if he can still play and the only question is character, absolutely.
Character isn't exactly something the Chiefs value very high, so yeah you're right.
What I’ve heard from the Athletic football pod (one of the best pods out there and incredibly detailed and knowledgeable folks) is that Baker doesn’t like to throw over the middle and OBJ runs most of his routes there (in-breaking routes). He would be a great fit here as a contested catch over the middle RAC guy. Patriots WRs are not a team strength - there is a fit and a match schematically here.
Or what @Red Averages said.
Or what @Red Averages said.
I don't think he's good enough to give a contender a midseason boost to make the potential headache worthwile. The list of teams with enough veteran presence and gravitas at QB that could handle OBJ not making everything worse by bitching about targets or whatever is pretty small. He's pretty tight with Brady, I wonder if he's making that case to Licht with Gronk and AB both injured and with no real timeline to be back at full strength. Wouldn't surprise me.
All Jimmy G does is throw over the middle and OBJ has made indications that he wanted to go to SF before. Just a thought.
He won't go to Seattle either, because Russell doesn't throw those passes either. Plus there are already 2 guys way better than him and I can't see him accepting being 3rd fiddle at best.
Vegas is a good probability, because they generally don't care about character either. Eagles, maybe? Packers might be a possibility as well. That's the kind of move the Packers might attempt to pull off.
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