Odell Beckham Jr. Is The Hottest Free Agent On The Market Just Prior To His Return

Odell Beckham Jr. is suddenly the most-coveted free agent on the market in any sport.

The 29-year-old wide receiver — who is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in last year’s Super Bowl — is apparently going on a tour of potential NFL destinations, according to Buffalo Bills linebacker and former Los Angeles Rams teammate Von Miller.

“I talk to him probably every week,” Miller said earlier this week. “I check in with him, keep in touch with him. OBJ, he’s a vet in this league too, he understands teams, and the way teams are built too. I’m sure when he looks at our team he can see himself fitting on our team.”

“He’s going on tour now,” Miller continued. “He’s going to Giants practice facility, and the Saints, Tampa, and all that stuff, which you should. You should go around, see the league and get the love. He’s still on Super Bowl tour.”

Receiver-needy teams — who are looking for that X-factor — are targeting Beckham as a potential weapon.

There’s little doubt that Beckham still has the ability to be a game-changer at receiver. He played that role for a Rams team looking to get over the hump last season when he was arguably their most valuable postseason player on offense. He caught nine passes for 113 yards in the NFC Championship win over the San Francisco 49ers and also caught a touchdown pass prior to his injury in Super Bowl LVI.

It comes as no surprise that teams such as the Rams, Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the most popular rumored destinations for the three-time Pro Bowl receiver.

Despite the fact that Beckham hasn’t been cleared to return — he’s projected to be healthy by Thanksgiving — former NFL general manager and current XFL Director of Player Personnel of the Seattle Dragons Randy Mueller predicts Beckham will sign with an NFL club about a month before he actually makes his debut.

“If you had the room to sign him now cap wise, they could make a deal,” said Mueller. “Then you can take over and manage the rehab. Because he’ll be in and around. So it comes down to what team is willing to pull the trigger now early. Let’s say if he’s ready by Thanksgiving, you may have to sign him a month or six weeks early.”

The Rams are vastly struggling and look like a shell of the team that won the Super Bowl last season. Not only is Matthew Stafford struggling, the offensive unit ranks as one of the worst in the NFL through the first four weeks — 17.5 points per game, 29th in the NFL — as the receiving core outside of Cooper Kupp has been weak. Allen Robinson is failing to make an impact during his first season and Van Jefferson remains injured.

Mueller believes the Rams are the “favorite” to land Beckham, due to the familiarity between both sides. Furthermore, Beckham’s “tour” of teams could simply be a leveraging tactic to drive up his price in re-signing with Los Angeles.

“I think he ends up with the Rams,” predicts Mueller. “But I think this other interest may drive the price up a little bit for them. I don’t think he’s going to the highest bidder. And I don’t think necessarily he’s going to the lowest bidder, if that ends up being the Rams. It only takes one other team to be in competition with the Rams to drive the price.”

As far as the Packers are concerned, it’s no secret that wide receiver is their weakest group. Green Bay is heavily relying on youngsters such as Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson and Allen Lazard to get things done. It’s resulted in an Aaron Rodgers-led passing attack ranking 16th.

Because of their lack of weapons, Beckham would immediately step in and emerge as the Packers’ top offensive option. In other words, he could be seen as a savior for a Green Bay squad desperately looking to get over the hump after three straight deep postseason runs without a Super Bowl appearance.

“The wild card would be the Packers,” says Mueller. “I think a call from Aaron Rodgers saying, ‘Hey, I need you. We’ve got these young kids. They need you.’ That move makes sense if the Packers are still struggling in the passing game a month from now. That’s a sleeper place you need to watch out for.”

Meanwhile, the Buccaneers’ offense finally came alive in a 31-point outburst versus the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. It just so happened to be a game in which they were at their healthiest, with their big four receivers — Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones and Russell Gage — entering the game with a clean bill of health.

However, Jones continues to deal with a nagging PCL sprain injury, which limited him during the game versus the Chiefs. The veteran receiver caught just one pass for seven yards and didn’t play during the second half.

“He just never loosened back up for the second half,” head coach Todd Bowles explained following the game. “So really no point in putting him back in there and making it worse.”

Jones’ persistent injuries — he missed 14 combined games over the past two seasons — combined with Cole Beasley’s sudden retirement could open up a spot on the Bucs’ roster for OBJ.

Furthermore, the allure of playing with Tom Brady during what might be his potential final season could be the deciding factor for Beckham as he decides where to play next. However, his fit in Tampa Bay doesn’t appear to be as great as it would be in Green Bay or Los Angeles.

“I could see him pushing Julio down the food chain a little bit,” says Mueller. “I think if he went to Tampa Bay, he’d be their third guy. It’d be icing on the cake for them, OBJ would be an extra guy that they have. But with the injuries that Evans, Godwin and Jones have had, now they’re going to bring in another injured guy? There’s a lot of ‘maybes’ there that don’t come together in Tampa.”

We don’t know where Beckham will land. But thing is for certain — he has his pick of the litter.

For several Super Bowl contenders, Beckham could the difference between hoisting the Lombardi Trophy and not having the opportunity to do so at the end of the season.