The New York Giants, as general manager Dave Gettleman said over and over again, may not have signed Odell Beckham Jr. to trade him, but things change, and just like that, the superstar receiver is no longer one of the faces of the franchise.
The Giants on Tuesday agreed to send Beckham to the Browns for a 2019 first-round draft pick (No. 17 overall), a 2019 third-round pick and safety Jabrill Peppers. The Giants were not actively shopping Beckham but they were listening to offers, and when they found one they liked, they made the deal — no doubt changing the course and direction of their team now and for years to come.
Beckham, 26, is a highlight-film player capable of astonishing one-handed receptions who set several pass-catching records in his four years with the Giants. He was also a handful to deal with for ownership, the front office and the coaching staff, and this played a large part in the trade going down.
Pat Shurmur, in his first season as the head coach, believed he was on his way to forging a strong relationship with Beckham but quickly learned it was not easy having Beckham on his team, in terms of distractions. Shurmur was furious with Beckham going on ESPN last season and not fully supporting Eli Manning or the Giants organization.
Still, this move is a swift reversal from the promise and enthusiasm of last August, when the Giants committed to Beckham with a five-year, $90 million contract, making him the NFL’s highest paid receiver. No one could have envisioned Beckham would make it through only one year on the deal. The Giants must eat $16 million in dead money on this year’s salary cap, so Beckham will be gone but his financial tug will not be forgotten.
Beckham is impossible to replace, as far as his talent and production. In five seasons, he caught 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns. His durability, though, was an issue. He missed the first four games of his rookie year with a hamstring issue and played in just four games in 2017 before needing surgery to repair a fractured ankle.
He came back in 2018 and was his usual formidable self on the field (77 receptions for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns) in 12 games before missing the last month with a quad contusion.
The Giants are now armed with two first-round picks, the No. 6 and No. 17 selections. They also add Peppers, a 23-year old possible star in the making, a badly needed addition to a defense that allowed strong safety Landon Collins to leave in free agency to the Redskins.
Peppers, from East Orange, N.J., was the 25th-overall pick in 2017 and started 28 games the past two seasons for the Browns. He will be an instant starter for the Giants.
This report originally appeared on NYPost.com.
