UPDATE (8:24 P.M. ET): The Browns and Odell Beckham Jr. have agreed on a contract restructure that will result in him being placed on waivers Monday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Beckham will be due $7.25 million for the rest of this season with the final two years of his deal being terminated.
ORIGINAL STORY: On paper, the New England Patriots would be a better team if they were able to add Odell Beckham Jr. The star receiver has declined since his heyday with the New York Giants, but still is a talented, explosive weapon in the passing game.
However, there’s one person whom New England should consider before making a run at Beckham: Mac Jones.
The Cleveland Browns on Friday announced they’re releasing Beckham, who now is subject to waivers with the possibility of becoming a free agent Monday if he goes unclaimed. New England currently owns the 15th spot in NFL waiver order but could not fit Beckham — and his new contract — under its salary cap without roster adjustments.
Whether the Patriots would consider putting in a claim for Beckham, or offering him a contract in free agency, is anyone’s guess. Bill Belichick might have offered a hint Friday morning, but it wasn’t much. Beckham previously has spoken glowingly about New England’s head coach.
That’s all well and good, and Beckham, despite being not nearly as good as he once was, certainly would be a schematic fit in Josh McDaniels’s offense, but a Patriots-Beckham marriage makes little sense for either party.
You could’ve made a different case a few years ago, when Tom Brady alone was enough to keep any diva receiver in line, but these are the post-Brady patriots, who are 4-4 and led by a rookie quarterback. New England thus far has done an excellent job of slowing Jones down, of making things (relatively) easy for him and of surrounding the first-round pick with selfless, team-first talent.
During Friday morning’s episode of “Toucher & Rich” on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said Browns coaches believe Baker Mayfield played better when Beckham was out of the lineup. Without having to worry about satisfying Beckham’s target appetite, Mayfield was free to focus on doing his job and playing good football.
Jones has enough on his plate without having to worry about placating a superstar receiver. Similarly, the Patriots offense has been on an upward trajectory over the last month, and it’s not hard to envision Beckham’s volatile personality messing that up. Perhaps Beckham would behave differently in New England, but leopards don’t change their spots.
To that end, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on Friday morning reported that Beckham’s frustration in Cleveland was less about player-to-player relationships than it was dismay over the state of the offense. Beckham reportedly had an issue not just with limited targets, but also with the Browns’ run-heavy approach.
If that’s true, then it’s difficult to imagine Beckham being any happier in New England. It’s not as if he would step in and immediately become the focal point of the passing attack, and the Patriots are at their best when letting their running game lead the way. It’s no coincidence New England has played better football since the offensive line stabilized, allowing Damien Harris to emerge as one of the NFL’s top young running backs.
If Beckham was unhappy seeing 5.7 targets per game in a run-heavy offense on the 4-4 Browns, why would he feel any differently about doing so for the 4-4 Patriots? Because he likes Belichick?
Maybe. Perhaps Beckham is a classic example of a player who needs the “Patriot Way” to find NFL happiness and would fall in line. And, again, that experiment might have been worth trying a few years ago, during a time when the Patriots won 10 of their first 11 games despite the Antonio Brown madness.
But this is 2021, and setting up Mac Jones to succeed needs to be the top priority in New England. The potential rewards of bringing in someone like Beckham do not outweigh the risks.
