Chiefs Odell Beckham Jr. decision gets more puzzling by the day

Odell Beckham Jr. will not be joining the Kansas City Chiefs. This marks the second straight offseason during which we've talked about the possibility of OBJ joining the reigning Super Bowl champions, only for that to not materialize. And it's another AFC contender who ultimately beat out the Chiefs for the former first-round wide receiver, the Miami Dolphins.

The Chiefs, however, were reportedly in the mix for Beckham. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported in an appearance on SportsCenter this weekend that Kansas City was involved but that OBJ ultimately decided on the Dolphins. His belief after a disappointing one-year stint in Baltimore where he failed to reach 600 yards receiving is that the Mike McDaniel offense could help him "prove something", even behind Tyreek Hill and Jayden Waddle in the pecking order.

However, when you look at the one-year, $3 million guaranteed deal that is heavily incentive-laden, both Beckham's logic and, perhaps more pressingly, the Chiefs' logic leaves a little bit to be desired in this situation.

Chiefs decision with Odell Beckham Jr. hard to make sense of

If Beckham wants to prove something, then you can't completely fault him for his choice of the Dolphins. McDaniel has proven himself as a brilliant offensive mind that has produced ridiculous statistical seasons for Hill, Waddle, Raheem Mostert, Devon Achane and, of course, Tua Tagovailoa. So Beckham is trying to capitalize on that for himself while helping Miami's offense become even more dangerous.

While that may be true, the opportunity in Kansas City might still be better than that. Patrick Mahomes is several tiers above Tagovailoa and Andy Reid is no slouch of an offensive mind in his own right. But even more important than that, the opportunity in the Chiefs pass-catching corps is substantially better, which is where KC's questionable choice than marries with this.

At the price that Beckham signed for with under $5 million guaranteed for the 2024 season, how could the Chiefs not be a bit more aggressive to make this happen and better sell this opportunity to OBJ? Travis Kelce remains the top target-getter, but the looming suspension of Rashee Rice complicates things among the wide receivers. He could be gone for a half-season, if not more, which leaves Marquise Brown and rookie Xavier Worthy as the top remaining targets.

That would leave plenty of room for Beckham to absolutely shine and thrive with the NFL's best quarterback in one of the league's best offenses as well. And for neither the Chiefs nor OBJ to recognize this is puzzling to say the least.

Of course, considering that the Chiefs won a Super Bowl last season despite headache-inducing issues with the wide receiver corps, there's a good chance this still works out just fine for them, though it could've been made easier with Beckham in the building. But for OBJ, we'll find out pretty early in the year if he made the right call or not.