Odell Beckham Jr. has been tied to the NFL’s trade deadline for weeks, but the latest trend signals that he might not be moved from the Cleveland Browns ahead of Tuesday.
According to a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson, general managers aren’t interested in inheriting “someone else’s cap dump,” and “overvalued ‘just a name’ players don’t have a market to speak of.” Some apparently consider Beckham in that category.
Beckham’s role has steadily declined in the Cleveland offense since he was acquired in 2019, and on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was targeted one time and finished with six receiving yards. Through six games this year, after returning from a torn ACL, he’s caught 17 passes for 236 yards.
“Nobody is going to want that salary unless [the Browns] are going to pay part of what’s left on it [this season],” an AFC general manager told Robinson about Beckham. “And even if Cleveland is willing to do that, which they probably aren’t, nobody is giving up anything for him. I’ll be very surprised if they can move him for anything.”
According to Robinson, NFL teams will want as much cap space as possible heading into next offseason, when the salary cap is reportedly expected to jump from $182.5 million to $208 million. But another layer to that, per the report, is that the cap jumps expected to begin in 2023 will lead to increases of at least $20 million per year — causing teams “to get ahead” with extending their most important players.
That approach would decrease the appeal of trading for Beckham because of the $8.05 million cap hit that he’d bring with him to any team that acquires him for the rest of the year, Robinson reported. He signed a five-year contract extension worth $95 million in 2018 with the New York Giants, and joined the Browns in March 2019 via a trade. He hauled in 1,035 receiving yards in his first season with Cleveland, but has managed just 551 in 13 games over the last season and a half as a torn ACL forced him to miss most of last season and the start of this one.
“I can’t sit here and lie like I don’t want the ball,” Beckham said in his Oct. 14 press conference. “… I know I bring a lot of attention to defenses on the other end and other people are going to be open. You just have to live with that.” But his main goal, Beckham added, remained to stay healthy and make it through a season, which he’s done since appearing in his first game in Week 3 despite suffering a shoulder injury that’s nagged him since.
The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported on Oct. 14 that Beckham, who’s under contract with Cleveland through the 2023 season, could be playing in his last year with the team regardless of whether or not he’s moved at the deadline, as the Browns would clear $15 million in cap space next season by trading or releasing Beckham — none of his $27.5 million base salary for the final two years of his deal is guaranteed, according to The Athletic.
Cleveland lost 15-10 to the Steelers on Sunday, and next faces the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday looking to avoid a fourth loss in five games since starting the season 3-1.
The league’s trade deadline is Nov. 2 at 4 p.m.