The rumors about a potential reunion between the Giants and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. finally came to an end on Sunday after the former Giants draft pick signed a one-year $15 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens.
With their former star now off the market, what’s next for the Giants’ wide receiver room, and will they be bemoaning the inability to make a reunion happen?
To the latter question, it doesn’t seem like the Giants were ever really contenders to land OBJ. When head coach Brian Daboll was asked if he had been in contact with the wide receiver he said, “Yeah, maybe once or twice. I shouldn’t say ‘talked.’ I texted … It hasn’t come in the last week or so. But we’ll see.”
That doesn’t sound like a coach who has been actively engaged in discussions with a potential new player.
While Giants owner John Mara it clear earlier in the offseason that the team hadn’t “closed that door” on the idea and that he was in favor of signing OBJ back if Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll could make it work, the fit never really seemed to make sense.
For starters, New York was never going to pony up anything close to the $15 million that Baltimore did in order to land OBJ. General manager Joe Schoen is too focused on financial flexibility and signing his current players to long-term deals to jeopardize the team’s cap situation with a bloated contract.
Secondly, it’s not a given that the former Giants star even returns to playing at a number one wide receiver level.
When amNewYork spoke with doctors in December about what teams could realistically expect from Beckham one physical therapist stated that it’s possible OBJ “can be about 85% of what that was.” While a fellowship-trained sports medicine physician said, “If he contributes another meaningful year or two I’ll be genuinely surprised.”
Those are not glowing reviews of the receiver’s future health, and while those are just the opinions of two medical professionals who could be incorrect, it goes to show just how uncertain OBJ’s future performance is. Given all of that, his fit on this current Giants team never seemed likely, so the team isn’t in any sort of dire straits now that he’s off the market.
So where does the team go from here in regards to completing their wide receiver room?
While much of the talk from fans is about the need to acquire a true number-one wide receiver, that has never really been the focus of the front office. At his postseason press conference with the playoffs in the Conference Championship rounds, Schoen said, “I know a number one wide receiver can be important, but there are some number one wide receivers that are home right now… A number one receiver doesn’t guarantee you anything.”
The team backed up that philosophy in the offseason, trading for tight end Darren Waller and signing slot receivers Parris Campbell and Jameson Crowder to join returning receivers Isaiah Hodgins and Darius Slayton, among others who are less likely to make the final roster.
With Campbell, Crowder, Hodgins, and Slayton coming into camp as four of the favorites to make the team and second-year slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson another lock to make the final roster, New York will already have a battle at camp for five or six receiving spots. Sterling Shepard will likely be given a chance to make the team, as will Collin Johnson. That makes the idea of spending money to bring in another veteran wide receiver seem unlikely.
Plus, the options remaining on the free agent market are slim with Jarvis Landry, Robbie Anderson, and Byron Pringle standing out as the best possible targets.
As a result, it’s far more likely that the Giants use a draft pick on a wide receiver who can come into camp to battle guys like Crowder, Johnson, and Shepard for the final spot in the receiving corps. While this draft doesn’t feature many, if any, sure-fire number-one wide receivers like Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson in recent years, it does feature a number of receivers who can be assets as part of a larger receiving corps, which is exactly what the Giants are looking for.
Given the plethora of receivers who operate underneath and over the middle of the field, the Giants seem more likely to target a deep threat who can stretch the field and allow Campbell and/or Crowder to operate under the middle and Hodgins to help move the sticks as a possession receiver.
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In our latest staff mock draft, we had the Giants taking Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt to do just that. While Hyatt may not be a stud right out of the gate what he does have is blazing speed to take the top off the defense.
Other options for the team in the first round of the draft could be Boston College’s Zay Flowers or USC’s Jordan Addison. If New York decides to wait until the second or third round to find their potential deep threat, some names to look for could be Oklahoma’s Marvin Mims Jr., Wake Forest’s A.T. Perry, SMU’s Rashee Rice, or Cincinnati’s Tyler Scott.
Whoever the Giants land on, fans should not expect a big splash name to come in and take over the vast majority of the targets. This is going to be a receiving corps that aims to give Brian Daboll countless options to attack opposing defenses based on the given matchup.
In many ways, that can be more dangerous than
having one player who carries the burden of making the offense go. While it also relies heavily on the coaching acumen of Daboll, the Western New York native has proven over his many years in the NFL that he’s more than deserving of that chance.
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