The NY Giants made a mistake by trading Odell Beckham Jr.
In so many ways and with so many reasons, this trade defined a decade of Giants football filled with disappointment, regret, mistakes, missed opportunities, and a whole lot of ‘what-ifs’. After Odell and the front office looked *seemingly* on the same page, the Giants traded Odell in March of 2019 to Cleveland, shortly before the draft and during free agency.
At the time, the move sent shockwaves all around the NFL, New York, and the entire sports world. Odell was a larger-than-life rockstar in New York, he was the franchise’s best game-breaking talent since Lawrence “Sir Lawrence of the Meadowlands” Taylor. Odell was the team’s most talented player and a main reason why the Giants offense stayed afloat for several years.
In March 2019, the trade didn’t make sense for the Giants or Odell then. In February 2021, the trade still hasn’t made much sense while looking back. There are a lot of moving parts and angles to look at with this trade.
We evaluate the Odell Beckham trade here, why it happened, what it meant, and where it has left both sides since the departure.
Background Context
To start, the Odell Beckham and Giants relationship began in 2014.
The Giants drafted him #12 overall and from there, he shattered every franchise and almost every NFL rookie receiving record known to exist.
Heading into 2018, Odell had already become the Giants’ best receiver, playmaker, offensive weapon, and overall player on the team. In 2017, the Giants picked up Odell’s 5th-year option but curiously waited much longer than needed. Odell had a disastrous campaign that got off to a horrible start. Odell injured his ankle in preseason vs the Browns (coincidentally) and went onto miss the opening Week One game in Dallas. Odell came back far too soon in Week 2 to help spark the offense and save the Giants season. The Giants started 0-4 and in Week 5, Odell shattered his ankle against the Chargers on the Metlife turf and his 2017 season was over in a flash.
Entering his fifth season in the Big Apple, Odell headed into an uncertain offseason for the 2018 year as he had to rehab his ankle, keep his name out of the papers and avoid bad publicity, and he had to prove himself worthy, healthy, and deserving of a second contract with the NY Giants.
Unlike many other stars, Odell did not hold out or become a distraction for his team and reported to camp for full offseason activities. This pleased Giants management and after lengthy negotiations over several years, the Giants and Odell cashed in and agreed on a record-breaking 5-year, $95 million with $41 million fully guaranteed. The team finally rewarded Odell for his years of service providing endless highlight-reel plays and saving the offense numerous times over several seasons.
In the 2018 season, the Giants rolled with Eli Manning another year and hoped that the combination of Odell’s return and drafting Saquon Barkley could spark one last playoff push and Super Bowl run. This was quite backward thinking despite coming off a 3-13 season. Odell came back healthy for 2018 and was his usual self putting up 77 catches for 1,052 yards, and six touchdowns in 12 games. Odell was shut down for the team’s last four games with a nagging lower-body injury that wasn’t worth playing through as the team already was eliminated from playoff contention. Odell had a productive season and also threw two touchdown passes and avoided negative headlines and kept his behavior and emotion in check on the field.
After the season, the team must have decided that it was in the organization’s best interest to move on from Odell, their best asset on the roster. It was a backward-thinking decision and it still is today.