Odell Beckham Jr.: 5 landing spots that make the most sense

The NFL trade deadline may be in the past, but another big-name player is going to be on the move. Odell Beckham Jr. has been let go by the Cleveland Browns.

The NFL trade deadline has passed, and one of the top “losers” at the deadline was the Cleveland Browns for their inability to dump wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to any team for anything at all. Now, the team has made the difficult decision after just 29 games with Beckham to cut him loose.

Including the rest of the 2021 season, Beckham’s contract has three years remaining, with base salaries of $8.05 (remaining) in 2021, and then $13.75 million both in 2022 and 2023.

For the abilities of Odell Beckham Jr., those price tags are more than palatable but obviously at this point it’s been very difficult to get him on the field consistently.

Odell Beckham Jr.: 5 landing spots that make the most sense

Because of his complicated contract situation, it’s not a foregone conclusion that Beckham will be acquired on waivers. Then again, there may have been teams with the financial flexibility to absorb Odell Beckham’s contract that may simply not have been willing to trade for him.

Any of the 31 other NFL teams could be in play to some degree, but some make way more sense than others for obvious reasons.

Which teams make the most sense right now?

Before we get into that, we have to take into account a few things. First and foremost, Odell Beckham Jr. is going to be subject to waivers. He’s not immediately a free agent who can sign with any team. Someone could choose to take on the remainder of his contract and pluck him off the waiver wire.

Here’s the current waiver order:

There are currently five teams that are both in the top 10 of the current NFL waiver order and in the top 10 of the NFL in available cap space.

In order from most cap space to the least (among the top 10 waiver order)

1. New York Giants
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Philadelphia Eagles
4. Seattle Seahawks
5. Washington Football Team

Those won’t be the only deciding factors, of course, but that is important to note.

With all of the information we have right now, including the fact that no NFL team was willing to make a compelling trade offer for Odell Beckham Jr. at his present price tag, let’s look at the top-five most sensible destinations for the former superstar receiver.