Odell Beckham Jr. began his career with the Giants. He isn’t likely to finish it with the Giants.
The Giants traded the receiver to the Browns after five seasons, receiving first- and third-round picks in the 2019 draft, along with veteran safety Jabrill Peppers. The Giants selected defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and pass rusher Oshane Ximines with the choices they acquired.
With Beckham now on the waiver wire -- his career with the Browns finished after only 29 games, 114 catches, 1,586 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns -- the Giants clearly won the trade.
Teams have until 4 p.m. ET Tuesday to claim Beckham. The Lions and Saints already publicly have said they won’t or can’t.
As intriguing as it would be for the Giants to claim him, they won’t and can’t.
“Wouldn’t expect anything,” Giants coach Joe Judge said Monday when asked the possibility of claiming a certain “high profile” wide receiver on waivers.
The Giants don’t have the cap space for the $7.25 million left on Beckham’s contract anyway.
Only nine teams, not including the Browns, currently have the cap room to add Beckham, according to overthecap.com. They are: Jacksonville (No. 4 waiver priority), the Washington Football Team (No. 7), Philadelphia (No. 8), Seattle (No. 9), Denver (No. 17), Carolina (No. 19), the Chargers (No. 20), Pittsburgh (No. 21) and Cincinnati (No. 22).