As he prepares to play in Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams, Odell Beckham Jr. acknowledged Monday that he nearly signed with another team after being released by the Cleveland Browns in November.
Beckham -- who played collegiately at LSU -- drew serious interest from the New Orleans Saints when he was available to be signed. And it sounds as though the 29-year-old gave serious thought to a return to NOLA.
"I was close. Very close," Beckham told Rod Walker of The New Orleans Advocate. "It just didn’t feel like the right time. Right place. Wrong time.”
It's hard to argue that Beckham didn't end up in the right place by signing with the Rams. The former Offensive Rookie of the Year has revived his career individually -- he has 19 catches for 236 yards this postseason -- and is now set to play on the sport's biggest stage for the first time in his career.
With that said, Cooper Kupp is the clear No. 1 wide receiver on the Rams, and perhaps in the entire NFL. Van Jefferson had 50 catches for 802 receiving yards in 2021, his second NFL season. Robert Woods suffered a season-ending torn left ACL just days after Beckham was signed, but was one of the sport's top wide receivers the previous three seasons and is under contract in 2022.
Over The Cap currently projects that the Rams will be more than $13 million over the salary cap in 2022. With Von Miller also set to become a free agent, the Rams won't be able to keep their entire team together another season. Beckham has been a great fit in Los Angeles, but so was Max Scherzer. Ultimately, he went elsewhere in free agency, and that's in a sport without a salary cap.
While Walker asked an excellent question of Beckham, the reporter went on to say that in a Zoom world where everything is so structured, he didn't get a chance to follow up with him on what would have made it "the right time" to join the Saints.
While it's entirely possible that Michael Thomas has played his final game with the Saints, they're currently on track to be more than $75 million over the cap in 2022. Between that, not having an answer at quarterback and Sean Payton stepping away, it's hard to think that the Saints will be a more attractive landing spot this offseason than they were a few months ago.
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