The Dallas Cowboys Should Pass On Signing Odell Beckham Jr.

It’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to move on from signing Odell Beckham Jr.

Although hope remains alive for the Cowboys to sign the three-time Pro Bowl receiver, the fact remains that we’re nearing the end of December and Beckham is still weeks away from actually making his return from a torn ACL.

Team owner Jerry Jones remained very optimistic of signing Beckham last week, even going so far as to predict that Dallas will sign the veteran. The comments came just days after the Cowboys signed four-time Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton.

“Odell’s going to join us,” Jones told USA TODAY Sports last Thursday. “There’s a good chance he will, with the complete goal of getting ready for a playoff game or two, and then I’ll look to the future. But most of it being about now.”

However, Jones’ tune changed on Tuesday when speaking about the topic, saying the chances of Beckham signing are “diminishing” moving forward.

Via 105.3 The Fan:

“I don’t have an assessment of that, but as of this morning we don’t have anything. I don’t have an assessment,” Jones said on Tuesday. “The reality is though that time is moving down the road relative to playing in the playoffs, and so every day diminishes our chances of going forward.”

The reality of the situation is, Beckham’s timeline for a return doesn’t fit the Cowboys’ timeline. We’ve heard Beckham’s timeline for a return as mid-January and now it’s potentially even later than that.

The problem is, the playoffs begin in mid-January. Are the Cowboys really going to benefit from signing Beckham now, him missing the remainder of the regular season and then making his immediate debut at the beginning of the playoffs?

As ESPN’s Todd Archer points out, Beckham would immediately be placed on injured reserve upon signing and would likely have to sit out the wild card round of the playoffs. That’s simply another reason why the Cowboys wouldn’t benefit from signing Beckham.

“If Beckham joined the Cowboys, the plan was to place him on injured reserve after he spent a day on the active roster as he returns from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered in last season’s Super Bowl,” said Archer. “He would have to miss four games on injured reserve, which if he were to sign this week, would mean he would miss at least the wild-card round of the playoffs.”

The whole purpose of signing Beckham was to give the Cowboys an extra weapon when it comes to their postseason push. The problem is, if Beckham is merely able to play — rather than make actual contributions — on the field, what is the point of signing him?

Further complicating matters is that Beckham wants guaranteed money for both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In conclusion, he wants guaranteed money for playing a postseason game or two while making very little contribution?

Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:

“Beckham wants guaranteed money this year and next year, but he’s still at least four weeks away from being able to play football and possibly as much as six weeks away,” said Rapoport.

If the final dagger in a potential Beckham signing wasn’t the fact that he won’t return until the playoffs, it’s definitely the fact that he desires a guaranteed contract for a 2022 season in which he hasn’t played.

When Beckham helped the Los Angeles Rams during their push to Super Bowl LVI, he didn’t miss any time. He was waived by the Cleveland Browns, only to immediately sign with the Rams at the midseason point. In other words, he had plenty of time to get acclimated in Los Angeles’ system before making a big-time impact in the playoffs.

Most importantly, he was in game shape considering he hadn’t missed any time.

If Beckham were to sign with the Cowboys, he would make his debut nearly a year after tearing his ACL. He would also have zero in-game reps prior to playing in the postseason. Outside of a few plays in a playoff game, Dallas can’t bank on Beckham playing a substantial amount of snaps as the No. 3 wide receiver. It’s simply too much of a risk.

Keep in mind that the Cowboys recently signed Hilton and he missed a game as he gets adjusted to the offense. This is a guy who’s not coming off of a major injury. So where does that leave the Cowboys if they sign Beckham?

The idea of Dallas signing Beckham makes for a great headline. It brings further star power to “America’s Team.”

But it won’t make any sort of difference for the Cowboys in the grand scheme of things.