The Giant surprisingly didn’t keep safety Landon Collins after the 2018 season. Even more surprisingly, they traded receiver Odell Beckham Jr., only months after signing him to a long-term deal.
“Was I shocked with Odell?” Collins told NJ.com. “No, honestly, not. They felt like he was a problem the whole time. Ever since Odell stepped into the league with them, they felt like he was a problem, I felt like from the outside.”
In this case, the “they” is the front office. The players felt differently.
“We loved him,” Collins said of his teammates. “Odell is my brother. He is not that kind of guy, or what people think he is about or what the organization did. I don’t know why.”
Collins’ perception makes the decision to sign Beckham and then to trade him even more confusing. They could have traded him before signing him to a long-term deal. They also could have left him finish his rookie contract, applied the franchise tag, and traded him from under the tag, like the Chiefs did with Dee Ford and the Seahawks did with Frank Clark.
Of all the bizarre decisions the franchise has made in the past few years, the decision to pay more than $20 million to a player about whom the front office was ambivalent at best is by far the most confusing. Especially if they could have gotten compensation close to what they received from the Browns (first-round pick, third-round pick, and safety Jabrill Peppers) without having to give Beckham so much money.
Meanwhile, why did the Giants have a problem with Beckham in the first place? He never created any issues away from the field, and he always produced at a high level. He ultimately wasn’t happy in New York, possibly because he sensed the organization’s hesitation toward him.
All in all, it was a strange chapter for the Giants. If Beckham thrives in Cleveland or elsewhere, it will make New York’s failure to make things work with Beckham even more strange.