Odell Beckham Jr. Is Back in No. 13 With the Giants: The Full-Circle Moment That Almost Did Not Happen
Odell Beckham Jr. is a New York Giant again, and he will wear No. 13 while he does it. The team announced the jersey number switch on Tuesday, posting a highlight video with the caption “OBJ back in 13.”
This is the ending Giants fans have wanted for years, and it almost did not happen.
Beckham made the 53-man roster this weekend, a surprise for a receiver who is 33 years old and has bounced through the league on short-term deals since leaving the Rams. He admitted he was in tears after the news came through. The vibe around him this camp has been that he understands this is likely his last chance to write a real ending in New York.
The No. 13 jersey was the sticking point. Jalin Hyatt, a third-round pick out of Tennessee in 2023, had the number. Beckham said last week he would “see what happens” when asked about convincing Hyatt to give it up. Then the Giants solved the problem the hard way by cutting Hyatt in the final wave of roster moves.
That should be its own story. Hyatt was supposed to be a speed weapon this front office invested a mid-round pick in. Two years later, he could not beat out veterans like Beckham for a spot. It is a rough indictment of Hyatt’s development, and the Giants clearly did not see enough to keep him around even as a depth piece.
For Beckham, the No. 13 return closes a loop. He wore it when he was drafted 12th overall in 2014 out of LSU. He wore it for the one-handed catch against the Cowboys that made him a household name. He wore it for three Pro Bowl seasons before injuries and organizational dysfunction eroded his time in New York.
When he was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2019, he had to wear a different number. When he signed with the Rams and won a Super Bowl in the 2021 season, he wore No. 3. That number followed him to Baltimore and Miami.
Now it is 13 again, in a Giants uniform, for what might be a farewell season.
The football question is what Beckham has left. He tore his ACL in the Super Bowl and has not been the same player since. His last productive year was 2019. The Rams got him for a few weeks in 2021 and got the version they needed. Everything since then has been a struggle to stay on the field.
The Giants do not need him to be an elite No. 1. They need him to be a red-zone threat and a veteran voice for Malik Nabers and the rest of the young receiving corps. If he can catch 30 balls and pop a couple of touchdowns, this signing is a win.
The real value is emotional. Giants fans have been waiting for a good story out of this franchise for years. Beckham in No. 13, playing meaningful snaps at MetLife, is a good story.
The 2026 season starts in less than two weeks. New York opens against Washington. Cameras will be waiting for the first time Beckham runs onto the field in that jersey. It is going to be a moment.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
