Don't expect much from Odell Beckham Jr.'s Giants reunion
· Yahoo Sports
The New York Giants need wide receivers to prop up embattled second year quarterback Jaxson Dart. Malik Nabers' recovery from the torn ACL that ended his 2025 has not gone as smoothly as hoped. Wan'Dale Robinson departed in free agency, replaced by veteran signings of Calvin Austin and Darnell Mooney, along with third-round draft pick Malachi Fields.
That leaves room for improvement in a picked-over marketplace. Head coach John Harbaugh welcomed a trio of recognizable vets to a workout/tryout Monday in hopes of boosting that group. Old friend Odell Beckham Jr. was the headliner, along with former All-Pro and Super Bowl champion JuJu Smith-Schuster and special teams ace Braxton Berrios.
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At first, the guy with the versatility to handle punt returns in place of an injured Gunner Olszewski won out. But not long after news broke that Braxton Berrios signed a one-year deal, a Beckham reunion followed.
On one hand, Beckham turns 34 in November. He didn't play in either the 2022 or 2025 seasons. In the two years in between he played 23 games and had just 44 catches for 620 total yards. Just making the 53-man roster would be a major accomplishment and impressive revival, even given New York's limited depth chart.
On the other, the Giants badly need stability in a receiving corps filled with not-quite-trustworthy players trying to raise up a young, flawed franchise quarterback. The last time we saw Odell Beckham on a football field it was alongside another flawed franchise quarterback in Miami. He had nine catches in nine games for Tua Tagovailoa's Dolphins in 2024. 143 wide receivers ran at least 100 routes that season. Beckhan's 0.54 yards per route run ranked 134th.
That is, somehow, better than new teammate Jalin Hyatt. It's still a stretch to rely on a guy who was less efficient than Jonathan Mingo or Devin Duvernay the last time we saw him (again, more than a year ago).
Maybe getting him back home will revitalize him. But even with the cover of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill in Miami he still posted career worsts in average separation (2.3 yards), average target depth (7.4) and yards after catch over expected (-18 in only nine catches). The guy who boosted the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl was five years and a reconstructed ACL ago. Beckham may be able to climb the gentle slope of New York's depth chart, but expecting anything more than a county fair rendition of faded hits is a longshot bet.
That doesn't mean this is a bad decision. Beckham can bring value as a leader in the locker room (and, as someone who was there for the entirety of the Ben McAdoo era, an advanced degree in what *not* to do). He can boost guys like Fields and Nabers. He can help Dart better understand what his wideouts need from him and vice versa. He's just not going to be the highlight machine he was in his first go-around in New York and, yep, may not even make the team's 53-man roster.
And that's OK.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Odell Beckham: Giants reunite with star WR, but don't expect happy ending