Odell Beckham spent his first five seasons with the Giants. He insists he never wanted to leave, but in the 2019 offseason, the Giants sent him to the Browns in a blockbuster trade.
Eight years and three other teams later, Beckham has returned to where it all started when the Giants used a first-round pick on him.
Beckham called being back with the Giants, with whom he signed a free agent deal this week, “a pretty surreal feeling.”
“Just the way that I had to walk away, it was just unsettling in my soul, in my spirit,’’ Beckham said, via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “It’s not who I am. I’ve never surrendered or quit or felt like I’ve given up on myself or anything. It just wasn’t sitting with me well.’’
Beckham expressed gratitude to co-owner John Mara and the organization for giving him another opportunity. Beckham has not played an NFL game since Dec. 8, 2024, with the Dolphins, as he sat out the 2025 season.
He has played only 23 games over the past four seasons.
“This family brought me in; they gave me my first opportunity,” Beckham said. “Something I’ll forever be grateful for. So many amazing memories. My life was here. I never thought I’d be anywhere else. To even have the opportunity to put a jersey and a helmet back on – I actually left one of my helmets here, it had dust on it. — it was good to see.
“But yeah, I want to do it for that family, for this building, for Giants Nation. This is my squad. It’s just going to come with everyday work, being the best me I can be.”
Beckham is 33, hasn’t made a Pro Bowl since 2016 and hasn’t had a 1,000-yard season since 2019. This is likely his last chance, even if he’s not looking at it like that.
“I look at it like this: God has given me one more opportunity to play,” Beckham said. “Whatever I do with that is that. I’m not saying this is my only year and I’m not saying that I’ve got five more for you. I’m just looking at it like this is my opportunity now. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
Russell Wilson has made it official.
In a social-media video posted on Wednesday, Wilson announced his retirement from the NFL and confirmed that he will be working for CBS, on The NFL Today.
A third-round pick in 2012, Wilson won the starting job as a rookie, beating out free-agent arrival Matt Flynn.
Wilson made it to the Pro Bowl nine times in 10 seasons with the Seahawks. Traded to the Broncos in 2022, he had two seasons in Denver, one in Pittsburgh, and one with the Giants.
The Jets had interest in adding Wilson as a backup to Geno Smith, who once backed up Wilson in Seattle. Ultimately, Wilson chose TV over continuing to play.
In the years to come, Wilson’s Hall of Fame candidacy will be debated. Former Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty said on Tuesday’s PFT Live that Wilson was in the second tier of NFL quarterbacks during McCourty’s career, which largely overlapped with Wilson’s.
Still, Wilson had a strong run in the NFL. He defied his size, won a Super Bowl, and was the highest-paid player in the NFL, twice.
Odell Beckham Jr.'s return captured the most headlines, but he was only one of three wide receivers that the Giants signed this week.
Braxton Berrios and JuJu Smith-Schuster also joined the team and the decision to bring in the trio of wideouts was the subject of questions for head coach John Harbaugh at a Wednesday press conference. The Giants lost Gunner Olszewski to a torn Achilles in practice last week and Harbaugh called that “a catalyst,” but said that Malik Nabers’s ongoing recovery from last season’s torn ACL was not part of the equation.
“No, I’d say it’s separate from that. Nothing to do with that,” Harbaugh said, via a transcript from the team. “There’s room enough for Malik and whoever the next four or five receivers are. There’s room enough for all those guys.”
Darius Slayton, Calvin Austin, Darnell Mooney, Isaiah Hodgins, Jalin Hyatt, and third-round pick Malachi Fields are also in the mix at receiver for the Giants, so there won’t be room for all of them when it comes time for the Giants to make decisions about their 53-man roster. That should make for a very competitive first training camp under Harbaugh this summer.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham practiced with the Giants on Wednesday and said it has been “surreal” to return to the team after leaving for the Browns in a trade ahead of the 2019 season.
Beckham spent five seasons with the Giants as their top wideout and won a Super Bowl with the Rams after the 2021 season, but tore his ACL in that game and struggled to find his previous level of play while in brief stints with the Ravens and Dolphins. He sat out the 2025 season and told reporters on Wednesday that “taking a step away from the game was what was best for me” because he felt playing had become “detrimental” to him.
Over time, though, the manner of his departure became “unsettling in my soul” and he felt he wanted another opportunity to show that he can still perform at a high level. Beckham also said that he knows he’s not guaranteed anything beyond that opportunity.
“I came here to earn it. Just work hard every day and be the best I can for the team,” Beckham said, via SNY.
Beckham said that Giants head coach John Harbaugh told him he didn’t want “to bring you here and then have to cut you.” Beckham said he replied that he’ll be “going out on my sword either way it goes” because he will be able to live with that better than he’d be able to live with not knowing how his comeback attempt will play out.
The signing of Falcons receiver Drake London nearly closes the books on the top-10 picks from the 2022 draft. And it’s not a happy ending for the New York Giants.
Of the first 10 players picked in 2022, seven of them have earned extensions. Three have not. Two were picked by the Giants.
Defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux (fifth overall) is in his option year with no expectation of an extension. Offensive lineman Evan Neal (seventh overall) became a free agent in 2026 and re-signed for the one-year minimum.
Most other players taken in the top 10 (Travon Walker, Aidan Hutchinson, Derek Stingley Jr., Sauce Gardner, Drake London, Charles Cross, and Garrett Wilson) have their second deals. (Panthers tackle kem Ekwonu is the lone exception.)
In April, the Giants had two top-10 picks again. They picked linebacker Arvell Reese (fifth overall) and tackle Francis Mauigoa (tenth overall). Time will tell whether it turns out better for the Giants this time around.
