Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the most recognizable faces in the NFL this century. From his iconic one-handed catch to his famous dancing celebrations, Beckham was a phenom of the NFL, especially with the New York Giants. So, should Beckham return to the Giants and play opposite the young superstar wideout Malik Nabers?
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Odell Beckham Jr. Returning to the Giants
Not only was Beckham a former Giant, but he also played under current Giants head coach John Harbaugh when both were on the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. However, despite the connections, Super Bowl champion cornerback Aqib Talib does not think it is a great idea for the Giants to bring Beckham in.
Talib said in a recent episode of “The Arena: Gridiron” that the Giants’ signing Beckham would be “Am I really GMing or am I really faning? Like numbers are saying, we do not really need to get him in here.”
Talib does make a valid point, especially about Beckham’s numbers. The last time Beckham had at least 700 receiving yards in a season was in 2019. Last year in the NFL, dozens of players had at least 700 receiving yards.
His latest action was with the Miami Dolphins in 2024. In this season, Beckham played in only 9 games. In these 9 games, Beckham had only 9 catches for 55 yards.
This was under Mike McDaniel, one of the NFL’s better offensive minds. The fact that Beckham struggled to produce in a good offensive scheme shows that he is not what he used to be.
In addition to Beckham’s regression, there are other wide receiver options that the Giants could use to pair with Beckham, such as in the NFL Draft. The Giants are picking at No. 5, and one option is Makai Lemon, who earned a B grade and ranked fourth according to PFSN’s College WR Impact Metric.
At USC, Lemon has made a name for himself as being great after the catch. Pairing that skill up with Nabers’ elusiveness could make for one of the NFL’s most physically talented receiving duos.
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If the Giants do not want to take a receiver in Round 1, there are still a lot of talented playmakers later in the draft, such as Connecticut’s Skyler Bell. Bell ranks sixth and has a B grade according to PFSN’s College WRi.
Additionally, if a team’s season is not going well, the Giants could make a trade for a playmaker to be opposite Nabers. An example of this working out last year was the Seattle Seahawks trading for Rashid Shaheed to pair with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which helped the team win the Super Bowl.
While bringing Beckham back would be a cool storyline, there are better options the Giants could pair with Nabers.
