The end of the Odell Beckham era in Cleveland is upon us.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reported Friday that the Browns plan to release the wideout, per sources informed of the situation.
The release will happen after the club and Beckham agree to a reworked contract, Rapoport added. Regardless of when the move goes down, Beckham has played his last game in Cleveland.
The writing was on the wall all week after Tuesday’s social media push to get the wideout out of Cleveland, which included Beckham’s father sharing a video showing Beckham open on routes but quarterback Baker Mayfield not throwing his direction. Cleveland attempted to trade Beckham ahead of Tuesday’s deadline but couldn’t cultivate a deal before the window closed.
The Browns excused OBJ from practice on Wednesday and Thursday, indicating they planned to move on if they could figure out the contract situation.
It’s a tumultuous end to a dud of an era in Cleveland.
In 29 games, Beckham caught 114 of 210 targets for 1,586 yards and seven touchdowns over two and a half seasons. In six games in 2021, OBJ caught 17 of 34 targets for 232 yards and hasn’t scored. In Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh, Beckham had one reception for 6 yards, the fewest in a full game for his career.
Beckham leads the team in targets through eight games.
The star wideout never found a rapport with Mayfield. The duo got off to a fine start together in 2019, with Beckham playing 16 games and producing 74 catches for 1,035 yards, but a lack of chemistry clouded the tepid production.
The past two years, Beckham’s struggles have been magnified in Kevin Stefanski’s offense. Beckham got off to a slow start in 2020, catching 23 passes for 319 yards and three scores before tearing his ACL after seven games. This year, the issues hit a new height after Beckham returned from the injury but was relegated to a sideshow.
Yes, Mayfield missed Beckham too often and didn’t see the wideout at other times, but it takes two to tango. Beckham’s effort wasn’t always great, and he didn’t dominate corners as he had early in his career. He generated a -7.9 expected completion percentage, per Next Gen Stats.
