The Thursday press conference to be held by the Ravens for the purposes of introducing receiver Odell Beckham Jr. includes not only John Harbaugh but also G.M. Eric DeCosta.
That’s not the usual approach when a player makes his debut with reporters covering the team. And the signing of OBJ is not the usual transaction.
It’s a big deal for the Ravens. It’s a contract well above and beyond whatever anyone else was offering to Beckham. And it comes at a time when the Ravens continue to try to defuse the bomb that is the Lamar Jackson contract situation.
Eight days after Harbaugh and DeCosta met with reporters and refused to take questions about Lamar, it’s almost as if they want to be there, that they want to express confidence about Lamar signing a contract. Hell, maybe they even hope to have a deal in place with Lamar by tomorrow, after enlisting Beckham to sit down with player and team and work things out, once and for all.
The key fact, currently unknown, continues to be whether Beckham will be fully participating in OTAs. If he’s going to be there for the pre-training camp practices during which the offense is installed, it will be all the more tempting for Jackson to be there, too. Which will make it all the more tempting to accept Baltimore’s best offer, possibly at OBJ’s behest.
