Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. remains the topic of all the coffee talk at the owners meetings. That does not necessarily mean that a deal is inevitable, much less imminent.
Even though co-owner John Mara mentioned that no one is “untouchable” and even though Mara said he was tired of talking about Beckham’s behavior and even though the General Manager of the Giants was having coffee with his Browns counterpart, things are the same as they were at the beginning of the week, and they may stay that way.
According to Newsday, a Giants source said that despite all the chatter about a possible deal for the wide receiver, it remains unlikely.
“I’d be very surprised,” the source said of the likelihood of a trade, adding that the Giants’ preference is to extend Beckham’s contract.
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said Monday that the negotiations on a new deal had begun, and were “at the earliest, most premature stages.”
And because they are at a stage between the beginning and the end, such wild swings of reports are to be expected. As soon as Mara started voicing frustrations yesterday, the reports that Beckham was considering holding out until he got a new deal was #asexpected. So any word to the contrary now is the next step in the dance.
A dance which will likely continue for some time, since the Giants have a degree of leverage contractually. Beckham’s entering the final year of his rookie deal, and they can always use the franchise tag for the two years after that if they want to squat on his rights.