All it took for Odell Beckham Jr. to finally rejoin the New York Giants was a rash of injuries. As it turns out, an injury might be the only thing that costs Beckham a chance at the Giants’ Week 1 roster.
The Athletic’s Dan Duggan unsurprisingly included Beckham among the six receivers he expects to survive final cuts. Duggan said he personally doesn’t believe the Giants would have signed Beckham had they not believed he’d deserve a roster spot.
“He’s obviously not what he once was, but he didn’t look washed-up this spring,” Duggan wrote.
Duggan added that he believes the 33-year-old Beckham’s greatest challenge will be staying healthy during training camp. Beckham has not played since December 2024, and he missed all of 2022 with a knee injury, his second in less than 18 months. A fractured left ankle also cost Beckham much of the 2017 season.
Can the Giants count on Odell Beckham Jr. to stay healthy?
Duggan included Malik Nabers among the six receivers he imagines being on the Week 1 roster, though Nabers’ status remains uncertain amid lingering knee discomfort.
Considering the rest of the Giants’ receiving corps, Jaxson Dart and the Giants may need Beckham far more than they’d have hoped. Darius Slayton remains a starting receiver despite a prolonged history of drops, which should say more than enough.
Offseason signees Calvin Austin III and Darnell Mooney didn’t turn heads during offseason workouts, and it remains unclear how much the Giants intend to play third-round pick Malachi Fields.
We must also note that there is a distinction between being healthy and being in game shape.
Beckham, as far as we know, is healthy. John Harbaugh and Joe Schoen almost certainly would not have signed him otherwise.
It’s fair to assume that the same goes for Beckham’s physical conditioning.
West Virginia in July will most likely be hot. We have this strong feeling that a helmet and pads won’t help Beckham stay cool. Signings like these require two to tango. Beckham needed to believe in himself, and the Giants needed to feel comfortable signing him.
The Giants already needed receiver depth before Gunner Olszewski’s likely season-ending Achilles injury.
Duggan is around the Giants enough that, if Beckham didn’t look like he belonged on the field, we’d have heard about it by now.
Harbaugh, Beckham, and Schoen all wanted to make this work. Technically, they still want to make it work.
So far, so good — at least for Beckham and the receivers likely to make the roster.
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