New York Giants: Trade Odell Beckham to Cleveland Browns in 2019?

A well-known WFAN personality has brought those rumors linking the New York Giants trading Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns back to life.

Brace yourselves, fans of the New York Giants. Those rumors linking the Giants with trading superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns from this past summer are alive and well, and they aren’t going anywhere this holiday season up through the start of March 2019.

As Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News explained, former quarterback and WFAN radio host Boomer Esiason mentioned Wednesday morning that he heard “legitimate discussion” in “NFL circles” about the Giants and Browns chewing over a possible transaction before this year’s trade deadline, which has come and gone.

Financially speaking, the Giants have few, if any, reasons to trade Beckham to the Browns or any suitor before the start of the 2019 season. The 26-year old still in his physical prime has, to date, remained healthy for half of the current campaign, and he’s one of the bright spots on what has been a letdown of an offense.

Yes, his contract is expensive, but it’s only a massive burden through 2020. The Giants have already taken multiple steps to free salary cap space since March, and removing quarterback Eli Manning from the equation, however that occurs, will give the organization more cash.

At worst, Beckham is the second-best playmaker on the offense behind only rookie running back Saquon Barkley, who has flashed generational talent and given New York fans dreams of what could be to come if the first-year pro is ever able to play behind a halfway-decent offensive line.

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Assuming the Giants draft a quarterback and/or sign a free agent such as Teddy Bridgewater, head coach Pat Shurmur would, in an ideal situation, like to pair him/them with the duo of Beckham and Barkley to get the best possible output from his offense.

Add in that any front office responsible for trading someone as great and proven as Beckham at his age will be crushed by fans and members of the media. Regardless of what some may want to believe, the majority of Giants supporters aren’t on Twitter and don’t call into sports talk radio programs to discuss their favorite team. Those customers will be furious about the team handing Beckham to another franchise no matter what Big Blue receives in return.

None of this means the Giants won’t accept calls regarding Beckham. Perhaps those running the team, a front office that never drafted the explosive wideout, have grown tired of his on- and off-the-field antics. For what it’s worth, former New York linebacker Carl Banks, who works for the team’s official radio network and makes regular WFAN appearances, has laughed-off such speculation in the past.

The Browns possess ample draft picks, enough to make the Giants an offer for Beckham New York may not refuse. Cleveland also has the need and the cap space to take Beckham’s contract. Jarvis Landry, who played alongside Beckham at LSU, has been somewhat of a disappointment during his first season with the Browns.

Baker Mayfield, by far the top rookie quarterback of the 2018 draft class as of the middle of November, could use a weapon who can actually hang onto the football. A former laughingstock of the NFL is ready to compete now.

That last sentence cannot be ignored. These aren’t, to borrow the phrase, the same old Browns. The values of that club’s future first-round draft picks probably won’t be what they were in 2017 and 2018 when Cleveland was literally the worst team in the NFL. New York wouldn’t receive a couple of first overall picks in this deal. With the right coaching hire and another solid offseason, the Browns could become a playoff contender before next August even without adding Beckham.

The Oakland Raiders obtained a pair of first-round selections from the Chicago Bears (the two sides exchanged other picks) for one-time Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack in September. Beckham, unlike Mack, already signed his second NFL contract. That deal doesn’t carry a special trade clause. Beckham has no leverage or power as it pertains to his playing future, meaning the Giants could, and probably should, demand more for him than what the Raiders landed for Mack.

One thing the Giants and Browns have in common today is that both are near the bottom of the overall league standings. While the Browns are headed in the right direction, the Giants’ rebuild won’t truly begin until the Manning era ends. All things considered, now could be the right time for the two franchises to go all-in on what could become a historic trade.