New York Giants: This is why Odell Beckham was traded

A subset of New York Giants fans were upset when Odell Beckham was traded to the Cleveland Browns in March.

And that’s okay because everyone should have a favorite player, especially the young fans. More grizzled New York Giants fans may initially have been perplexed, but later came to the conclusion that the deal was in the best interest of the franchise.

At the time of the trade, it’s tough to figure out how jettisoning one of your best players makes the team better. Then again, over the years, Bill Belichick has gotten rid of guys like Jamie Collins, Chandler Jones, Jimmy Garoppolo, Logan Mankins, and Richard Seymour.

Seemingly, the New England Patriots play in the Super Bowl ever year.

With his latest Twitter rant, Odell Beckham likely answered the riddle of why he was traded. If you don’t believe OBJ’s latest tirade isn’t cringe worthy, then clearly you have a case of BDS (Beckham Derangement Syndrome).

It’s interesting that what apparently set Beckham off were comments made by general manager Dave Gettleman about the New York Giants “culture”. First, taken at face value, Gettleman’s comments are not an indictment of Beckham per se.

The team has removed so many players from the Jerry Reese era, that it’s hard to pinpoint who were the locker room problem children and who were the guys that simply weren’t getting the job done.

Some guys may have checked off both boxes (i.e. – Ereck Flowers, Eli Apple).

This is where it gets tricky because by his visceral response, Beckham certainly makes us believe that Gettleman’s generic comment applied to him specifically. No one writing about this stuff is part and parcel to the internal conversations, and in Beckham’s case, we do know there were several over the years.

He absolutely may have reason to feel that way, but why make it public?

Truthfully, there’s absolutely no reason for OBJ to engage in this back and forth. He’s on an up and coming team, playing with his best bud – Jarvis Landry. Time for him to close the chapter on his New York Giants career.

Otherwise, he just gives credibility to the notion that the trade was made mostly for non-football reasons.

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If you haven’t figured out that the guy has very thin skin (like many receivers), then you either haven’t been watching, or you’re part of the “Odell does no wrong” society, of which there are plenty of members.

It’s great when player lecture fans that football is a business, and then post an emotional rant because the team treated it like a business. Keep in mind that the New York Giants didn’t win a playoff game in Beckham’s five season in Big Blue.

That’s just fact.

The ill-fated Miami boat trip will always be part of Beckham’s legacy in the Big Apple. If you want to flaunt your stuff, then don’t lay an egg in the biggest game of your professional career. Pro Football Reference tells us that Beckham had four catches for 28 yards on Jan. 8, 2017 in the Wild Card match-up against the Green Bay Packers.

That stat doesn’t include his dropped potential touchdown in the first quarter when the game was scoreless. For those with faulty memories, you can view it on NFL Films here.

A player’s career should not be summed up in his worst moments, but through his Twitter rant, Beckham certainly conjures up those thoughts. There are a 100 reasons why the Giants should have kept OBJ, and unfortunately for him, there are 100 reasons why the team made the right move in trading him.

Time will tell who actually comes out on top, but until then, OBJ needs to let it go, and understand that his tenure with the New York Giants could have gone better. Events were not entirely his fault, but he wasn’t the franchise savior either. Remember, there are two sides to every story.