Free agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. spent Monday and Tuesday in Dallas visiting the Cowboys as he continues mulling where to sign, but so far, no deal has materialized between the two sides.
A significant concern for the Cowboys — and any team interested in Beckham — is the player’s unwillingness to work out for teams ahead of a deal offer as he is coming off an ACL injury.
Reports indicate that Beckham has yet to fully recover from the ACL tear suffered during last season’s Super Bowl, his second in two years in the same knee. It could be five weeks or more before Beckham is ready to take the field, according to the reports, meaning he would not be ready to take the field until sometime in January.
On Tuesday, during his weekly radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said that he is “uncomfortable” laying money on the table for a player who may not be available until next season.
On Wednesday, the team revealed that OBJ walked away from “good conversations” with the Cowboys coaching staff without a contract offer.
“Personally, I was extremely impressed with Odell and enjoyed our time together. I liked his vibe,” head coach Mike McCarthy said during his Wednesday press conference. “We didn’t talk a whole lot about football. We talked more about life and family.”
While the enthusiastic approach by some Cowboys members toward bringing in OBJ shows plenty of desire, not all teammates are sold on the prospect of adding a player with a questionable injury history and a disciplinary record that draws lots of attention that can turn into a distraction.
“It’s fair to say I want to win a Super Bowl,” defensive end Demarcus Lawrence said. “So if he can come and help us with that, then yes, I’ll accept him. But if we’re just gonna do the circus, no, I don’t. I’m focused on this year, this team, what we have in the locker room, and the journey we’re on.”
The focus on “this year” appears to be one of the reasons the Cowboys may be reluctant to add OBJ to the team, as he may not be ready to take the field until after the regular season, limiting his ability to contribute this year.
“I know he’s dying to get back on the field,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said. “We had a great couple of days with him; now the devil is in the details. It’s not ‘if’ but ‘when’ he comes back. Certainly, we have to figure all that out and what the value is for that. We’re looking at what he can do for the Dallas Cowboys, first and foremost for this year, but certainly, we don’t rule out the future as well.”
In addition to the Cowboys, OBJ has also met with two other teams in the thick of the playoff race — the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants, who drafted the player back in 2014.
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers have also been linked to the receiver, who has not played since tearing his ACL during February’s Super Bowl while a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
For their part, the Rams have kept the door open and continue maintaining a locker available for OBJ. As recently as October, quarterback Matthew Stafford indicated he would favor a reunion in LA, telling TMZ Sports that OBJ is “my guy.”
Stafford is currently on Injured Reserve and will likely miss the remainder of the season with a spinal cord contusion that some doctors have warned could be a career-ending injury. However, the Rams are well outside the playoff race with a 3-9 record.
The Rams recently acquired former Texas Tech and Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield on waivers after his release from the Carolina Panthers.
As for the Cowboys, though formal talks have ended, the team’s brass intends to continue discussing the possibility of bringing OBJ to join CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, and the rest of the receiving corps that is also likely to regain James Washington in the coming weeks.
