Giants are trying to trade Odell Beckham Jr., per report
For teams that didn’t get Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr. is looking like a potential backup plan.
Antonio Brown will be dealt to the Oakland Raiders when it can become official on Wednesday, but teams looking to trade for a top-tier wide receiver have a potential fallback. According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, the Giants are still involved in trade talks regarding Odell Beckham Jr.
Jay Glazer of FOX Sports drew ire for a bold prediction that Beckham would be traded this offseason, while Jordan Raanan of ESPN reported just over the weekend the Giants were not actively shopping him. But as Beckham enters the first year of a five-year, $90 million contract extension, and despite General Manager David Gettleman’s assertion he didn’t extend Beckam to trade him, rumors are lingering into a second straight offseason.
Beckham’s behavior has been odd at times, but outside of questioning Eli Manning last season he has not been a headache for the Giants on the same level Brown was for the Steelers. He has missed 16 games over the last two seasons, but over 12 games last season he produced at a pretty good level (77 receptions, on 124 targets, for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns).
Another earlier report said the Giants would not entertain offers for Beckham unless they were “overwhelmed” by an offer. After Pittsburgh got third and fifth-round picks for Brown, while taking on north of $21 million in dead money, the Giants are in a similar situation if they were to trade Beckham.
Via Over The Cap, the Giants would take on $16 million in dead money by trading Beckham this year before June 1 (while clearing $5 million in cap space). Those numbers change to $4 million in dead money and $17 million cleared after June 1, but a trade that late is highly unlikely.
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However, the San Francisco 49ers missed out on Brown and have been tied to Beckham in trade rumors going back to last offseason and they have the cap space to take on his contract. While their first round pick this year (No. 2 overall) is surely off the table, some later and/or future draft picks may get New York’s attention.