Browns Trading Odell Beckham To Jets?

Browns Trading Odell Beckham To Jets?

Are the Browns trading Odell Beckham Jr. to the Jets? If the wide receiver gets his way, that is precisely what will happen.

Cleveland traded a lot of assets to the New York Giants to acquire Beckham last year. That investment did not prove to be a wise one.

The Browns underwhelmed all 2019-20, Beckham was ineffective and pouty, and second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield regressed despite seemingly on paper having more offensive weapons to work with.

To make matters worse, Beckham publicly demanded trades during multiple Browns games. As in, he literally would ask opposing teams to trade for him while on the field.

Although he seemingly cut that behavior out towards the end of the year, a recent report indicates that he still has hopes of being traded away from the Browns.

According to Kristian Dyer of Sports Illustrated, Beckham sees the Jets as “an ideal landing spot” for him should Cleveland trade him.

Apparently, “Odell would welcome a return to New York.”

Odell Beckham, asked about his future in Cleveland: “I couldn’t tell you what’s going to happen. … Whether I’m going to be here, want to be here, don’t want to be here. This is exactly where I’m at now. I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.” pic.twitter.com/mBNCWJevPw

— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) December 5, 2019

Last season, Beckham recorded 1,035 yards and four scores for the year. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, he did not even play well enough to justify a Pro Bowl slot.

Beckham’s lone good game of the season, ironically enough, came against the Jets. In that outing, he amassed 161 yards and a score on six receptions.

While Beckham would theoretically be a great safety blanket for Jets quarterback Sam Darnold to throw to, the same was once said about Beckham and Mayfield.

And we all saw how that turned out.

When Beckham was asked about whether he wanted to be traded earlier this year, he played it coy.

“I couldn’t tell you what’s going to happen,” he said regarding his future.

“Whether I’m going to be here, want to be here, don’t want to be here. This is exactly where I’m at now. I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.”

What exactly does that mean? That is something only Beckham knows the answer to.

For what it is worth, for now at least, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam insists he plans on retaining Beckham.

“Odell is extremely talented,” Haslam said. “He was hampered by the groin injury.

“Listen, he could have done some things better and we could have done some things better.

“I think Kevin [Stefanski] is very excited to have Odell on the team. The surgery went well, he’s rehabbing and we look forward to having him and being a big, big producer for the team this year.”

Stefanski, Cleveland’s new head coach, said something vaguely similar.

“I have full confidence in Odell,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to him a couple times. Have met with him face to face and really looking forward to getting to know him more, him getting to know me and then getting him in this scheme, getting him around the coaches and then see where we go.”

While everyone is obviously saying all the right things, the fact remains that Beckham has spent the majority of his one-year Browns tenure wanting to be traded.

No matter what PR spin management tries to put on that undeniable fact, it remains true.

Is it possible that Beckham falls in line and becomes a great teammate in 2020-21? Sure.

Is that where the smart money is? Absolutely not.

Chances are, if Beckham truly wants to become a member of the Jets, one way or another that is precisely what will end up happening sooner rather than later.

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Jennifer Withers Hoey

Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.