Two of the three teams who recently hosted free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. have signed free-agent receivers not named Odell Beckham Jr.
So what does, for example, the acquisition of receiver T.Y. Hilton by the Cowboys mean for the potential pursuit of OBJ?
In his weekly Tuesday morning appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, during which he sounds as if he just rolled out of bed or perhaps is still under the covers, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that the acquisition of Hilton does not rule out Beckham.
Via Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jones said the door isn’t closed on Beckham becoming a Cowboys in 2022. “I wouldn’t go that far if you include the playoffs,” Jones said.
Still, it sounds unlikely. Per Hill, Jones also said that Beckham isn’t ready, and that he will be ready “come spring.”
With Beckham recently saying he doesn’t see the point of playing in the regular season and with teams likely not willing to devote postseason practice reps and resources to get him ready to go, it’s hard to imagine anyone signing him before the 2023 offseason.
That’s when it will get interesting, because that’s when Beckham may want a massive deal that pays out $20 million or more per year. And he may not get it. And he might eventually have to take a one-year deal, proving that he can still play at a high-level, before cashing in again.
Beckham is now 30. He has torn the same ACL twice. He’s not getting the interest he expected, as it relates to potential financial commitment.
The passage of time won’t change that. He needs to show that he can play and stay healthy before anyone will commit significant dollars to him. If that doesn’t happen over the balance of 2022, it needs to happen in 2023.
And, frankly, what first needs to happen may be for someone close to him to tell him a hard truth or two about where his current prospects are, and how to go about improving them.
