BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As players walked off the field Sunday following a 15-10 loss to the Steelers, Myles Garrett put his arm around Odell Beckham Jr.
Sensing Beckham’s frustration after he caught one pass for six yards, Garrett couldn’t have predicted what would come next.
On Friday, the Browns announced Beckham would be released.
“Just sad to see him go,” Garrett said.
Sunday’s loss was the last straw for Beckham, who, at least publicly, pretended to play the role of being a team player unaffected by his targets, touches or stats.
“I knew he was frustrated,” Garrett said. “He was really frustrated and that’s my guy and I want the best for him and I want to see him prosper and I never want to see him down like that and that was it
“I just threw my around him to try tell him that whatever happens we’re going to be all right.”
Garrett isn’t the only one as multiple players took up for Beckham this week, but the reality is that whatever happened behind the scenes became untenable going forward.
“It was quicker than anyone expected,” Garrett said. “I wish we got a little bit more communication between upper management and the players, a little bit more knowledge of what was going on because it seemed just like it happened overnight. Things just like kinda snowballed.”
Garrett spoke with Beckham, who expressed his own disappointment at the situation, this week.
Beckham reportedly had been seeking a trade this offseason and leading up to Tuesday’s trade deadline, which was news to Garrett.
“He didn't make that known to me,” Garrett said. “Obviously he was frustrated. We knew he wanted the ball more, everybody knew he wanted the ball more. That's not mistaken by anybody. But he never said anything about wanting a trade earlier this year, at least not to me. Upper management? I don't know.”
Once Beckham is released, he’ll have to clear waivers. If he is released Friday or Saturday, he'll be on Monday's waiver wire which closes at 4 pm. eastern.
If Beckham goes unclaimed, he’ll become a free agent.
Some Browns fans are worried Beckham could sign with another contender that is in the Browns’ way. Garrett doesn’t care.
“It might happen, but I’m not worried about it,” Garrett said. “I’m not scared of it. There’s great receivers everywhere that we have to worry about and if he goes to another good receiving corps than we have to step up and prepare for it. We know what he can do. We see it on the practice field all the time.
“But there’s no need to worry about where he could go because we have a game Sunday and we already have some dominant receivers to worry about. No need to worry about the possibility.”
