Solely from an on-paper perspective, the general consensus is that John Harbaugh and Joe Schoen have dominated the offseason.
But even these new-look New York Giants were bound to trip up at least once. Reuniting with former Pro Bowl receiver and beloved fan favorite Odell Beckham Jr. felt inevitable after months of hints and love taps.
Beckham, along with fellow receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios, officially signed with the Giants on Monday. Although none of the three are guaranteed to make the Week 1 roster, only two deserve a realistic chance.
And, no, now isn’t the time to dig your Beckham jersey out of that forgotten garage box.
The Giants allowed sentimentality to dictate signing Odell Beckham Jr.
A reunion between Beckham and the Giants has never made sense, especially not given the greater context. Beckham’s defenders will point to Malik Nabers’ and Darius Slayton’s injuries as justification for signing him, but he only checks so many boxes.
What value does Beckham truly bring, even to a Giants team craving receiver depth? He has age and inefficiency working against him.
Beckham can’t return kicks and replace the injured Gunner Olszewski. Veteran additions Calvin Austin and Darnell Mooney are far better receiving options.
There is no reason to believe that Beckham was among the best available receivers. In fact, we know he wasn’t because the Giants also brought in Berrios and Smith-Schuster.
For whatever reason, Giants fans allowed the nostalgia of Beckham’s one-handed catches to blind them this offseason.
With the way social media talked about Beckham, you’d think he made Jerry Rice look like Jerry Porter. At his best, Beckham was an above-average receiver. He wasn’t elite nor was he a flash-in-the-pan, one-year wonder.
Beckham was an immensely talented player and a large personality on some awful teams in the sport’s largest market. The best thing Beckham did for the Giants was net them the 2019 first-round pick that landed Dexter Lawrence.
Odell Beckham Jr. can easily ruin all of the Giants’ good vibes
For players like Beckham, nothing is ever enough.
Beckham shouldn’t arrive at training camp expecting to be one of Jaxson Dart’s top targets, even if Nabers and Slayton can’t go in Week 1.
What happens, then, if we get to Week 3 and Beckham only has two catches for 19 yards?
All it takes is one complaint to the media or one Instagram story post to drill a massive dent into everything that Harbaugh and Joe Schoen have built this offseason.
Perhaps Harbaugh, a head coach of nearly 20 years, wouldn’t have signed off on Beckham if he didn’t believe the three-time Pro Bowler would behave and keep his fingers in his pockets.
Until we’re convinced otherwise, this is the first stain on Harbaugh and Schoen’s widely acclaimed offseason.
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