Well, that was (un)fun while it lasted.
The Odell Beckham Jr. reunion officially came to an end Monday, just three games into the 2026 season and just a few months after the former New York Giants superstar made his long-awaited return to East Rutherford.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Giants are releasing Beckham, ending a comeback that took up pretty much my entire summer but never really turned into much of anything once the regular season came around. Which was always the risk of bringing him back in the first place.
Giants release Odell Beckham Jr. after quiet start to 2026 season
It’s hard not to feel disappointed. It's most definitely a bummer, especially for anyone who spent the better part of the past six years wondering what one more go-around with OBJ in Giants blue would look like. Unfortunately, the answer ended up being only 11 percent of the offensive snaps, one target, and zero catches.
To say that's not exactly the triumphant return anyone had in mind would be the understatement of the millennium.
The writing had been on the wall for a while now. Odell fought his way onto the initial 53-man roster after entering training camp without any handshake deal or guarantee of making it, but the 33-year-old quickly found himself buried behind Malik Nabers, Darnell Mooney, and rookie Malachi Fields (the only three wideouts currently on the active roster) once Week 1 rolled around.
Even Calvin Austin III’s season-ending knee injury wasn’t enough to get him some snaps.
It didn’t help Beckham’s case that he doesn’t offer anything on special teams, either. Carrying a fourth or fifth receiver who isn’t contributing on offense becomes increasingly difficult to justify when that player can’t make up for it anywhere else.
Still, there’s no reason to pretend bringing Beckham back was some terrible mistake just because it ultimately didn’t work out. He reunited with head coach John Harbaugh from their year together in Baltimore, competed hard throughout the summer, and gave the Giants a veteran option in a receiver room that had a seemingly unlimited number of question marks heading into the season.
Odell gets a chance to find another team willing to give him more than the handful of snaps he was getting in New York, while Big Blue gets a roster spot back for someone who can potentially provide more immediate help, say Braxton Berrios, who's currently been sent back and forth between the practice squad and 53-man roster the past three weeks.
The reunion never gave Giants fans that one last OBJ moment everyone was hoping for (myself included), which is probably the biggest bummer in all of this. It would’ve been fun to see No. 13 turn back the clock one more time, but three weeks into the season, there just wasn’t much of a football reason to keep waiting for it.
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