Last year, as the midseason free agency of receiver Odell Beckham Jr. lingered, we made a bold (at the time) proclamation on PFT Live. The longer this lasts, we said, the more likely the Rams will jump in.
Jump in they did, with both feet. And now that Beckham continues to be available, three months to the day since the window opened on talking to the teams, we have another bold proclamation to make. The longer this lasts, the more likely that someone else will try to snatch Beckham from the Rams.
The Rams continue to say all the right things about wanting Beckham back. But the money surely hasn’t matched Beckham’s expectations. That opens the door for someone else to do it.
We’ve recently spitballed on our weekday show regarding possible alternatives like the Bucs (with Tom Brady), the Vikings (with Kevin O’Connell), and the Packers (with Aaron Rodgers and no No. 1 receiver). Here’s another one to watch.
The Bengals.
Quarterback Joe Burrow recently posted a social-media message indicating that his “spidey sense” is tingling. Beckham responded with a two-word message: “The one.” It’s vague, to be sure. But it’s worth wondering whether Burrow and Beckham, who both played at LSU, would like to get together.
The Bengals have plenty of weapons on offense. But so did the Rams. And the Bengals saw first hand the impact Beckham can have, based on the L.A. offensive game plan for Super Bowl LVI. Beckham was on track to be the MVP of the game, before he suffered another torn ACL.
And it’s the injury that is keeping the Rams from getting it done. At some point, will one of these other teams roll the dice, before the Rams do it? Perhaps the concern is that any offer given to Beckham will be shopped back to the Rams and promptly matched. There’s only one way to find out.
There’s also one way to close the deal. Launch an all-out, full-court press for Beckham. Make Beckham, as he said last year of the Rams, “feel the love.” At a time when the Rams are withholding the cash, there’s perhaps a chance for someone else who is willing to wait for Beckham to get healthy to swoop in and pick the pockets of the ultra-rich Rams.