The free agency period never fails to disappoint year in and year out, and 2024 proved no different. But there are still multiple talented players left unsigned by an NFL team and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell views wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as the perfect pick for who the New Orleans Saints should pick up next.
Despite an overall lack of production in 2023, Barnwell still sees value in the talent Beckham brings to the table.
“While he didn’t get steady volume, Beckham was efficient when on the field, averaging 2.2 yards per route run, which ranked 19th among receivers who ran 200 routes or more,” he wrote. “His efficiency was in line with Tank Dell and Jayden Reed, but he only ran about 18 routes per game to Reed’s 23 and Dell’s 27. If a team thinks Beckham can expand his role and retain his efficiency, there’s the potential for the 31-year-old to be more of a legitimate WR2 in 2024.”
Sending him back to Louisiana is something Barnwell looks at as kind of poetic in a way, considering that Beckham Jr. played college football for the LSU Tigers. And before that, he played out his high school career at Isidore Newman in New Orleans.
“Call me a romantic, but getting Beckham back home would be a natural way for the former LSU star to wind down his NFL career,” Barnwell said.
The fit is there for the Saints after the team released one of its most prominent wide receivers. Barnwell continued: “The Saints have a need for a second wideout after releasing Michael Thomas. Rashid Shaheed will take more snaps as the team’s designated deep threat and Cedrick Wilson is in town after disappointing over the last two years in Miami, but Beckham would fit in as part of the rotating cast behind third-year star Chris Olave, especially if the price tag is about half of what it was for the Ravens a year ago.”
Beckham has played for four teams over his NFL career and it is easy to get the sense that his time on the field is coming to a close as Barnwell notes, but he could still be in asset to the Saints in that time frame. The Saints made a run at Beckham before, which he characterized as the “right place, wrong time” for his career before joining a Los Angeles Rams squad that went on to win a Super Bowl.
Beckham finished out the 2023 season for the Ravens with 35 receptions for 565 yards with 3 touchdowns, seeing action in all 14 games. Whether or not he gets the opportunity to bring some solidity to the Saints’ wide receivers room will be something to keep an eye on.
