Odell Beckham Jr. reportedly is facing a left ACL tear rehab for the second time in 16 months. It’s a brutal blow to a player who long dreamt of playing in a Super Bowl but suffered a significant injury early in his first taste of the NFL’s biggest stage.
To make matters worse, Beckham, 29, is set to become a free agent this offseason. That the star receiver will be 30 next November and playing on a twice-repaired left knee — if he’s playing at all — absolutely will cost him money during negotiations.
Beckham has said he wants to return to the Los Angeles Rams, who signed the controversial wideout during the regular season and enabled him to claim his first Lombardi Trophy. Hours before the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that Los Angeles was hopeful to re-sign Beckham in free agency. It’s unclear how Beckham’s injury will impact the Rams’ thinking.
Similarly, it’s fair to wonder how Beckham’s ACL tear could change the potential pursuit of a team he long has been connected to: the New England Patriots.
During the lead-up to Sunday’s game, Beckham confirmed reports of the Patriots targeting him in November after his release from the Cleveland Browns. In fact, Beckham admitted he was “very, very, very” close to finally playing for Bill Belichick. Those comments went over quite well with Patriots fans, many of whom believe giving Mac Jones a high-end receiver to work with should be New England’s top priority this offseason.
Whether Beckham and the Patriots would’ve been interested in an offseason deal before he re-injured his ACL is anyone’s guess. However, at the very least, you could have argued that a marriage would’ve made sense for both sides, depending on the price.
Now? Everything’s changed.
There’s a real chance that Beckham’s days of being a Pro Bowl-caliber receiver are over. Sure, ACL tears aren’t the career death sentences they once were, but asking any NFL wideout, let alone one so reliant on speed and athleticism, to perform well after tearing the same knee twice in under two years is a big ask. Beckham might work his way back into being a serviceable receiver, but it would be foolish to expect much more than that.
However, that might make Beckham an even more intriguing option for Belichick, who loves nothing more than getting good players at a discount. The Patriots could give Beckham a two-year, incentive-laden deal, with hopes of him delivering quality production in 2023 at a bargain price.
We’ll just have to see what happens. For now, Beckham can only hope that NFL teams, be they the Patriots, the Rams or someone else, are willing to bet on his ability to defy the odds for a second time.
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