The Ravens have their wide receiver.
Free agent Odell Beckham Jr. agreed to a one-year deal with Baltimore, the team announced on Sunday. The deal is valued at $15 million, with $13.835 million of that coming in the form of a signing bonus and $1.165 million in base salary, and he could make up to $3 million more in incentives, according to multiple reports.
Beckham, 30, missed all of last season and hasn’t played since suffering a torn ACL with the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 56 in February 2022, but his addition is easily the biggest move of the Ravens’ offseason and gives them an immediate and much-needed jolt to a receiving corps that ranked last in the NFL in receiving yards by a wide margin over the past three years combined.
While there are questions about Beckham’s health following what was the second torn ACL of his career, when healthy he has proved to be one of the league’s better receivers. In his last healthy season in 2021, Beckham received a 76.5 grade from Pro Football Focus after catching 48 passes for 593 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games. Across eight years in the league, which included stints with the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns, Beckham has 531 career catches for 7,367 yards and 56 touchdowns.
The signing also came as something of a surprise with Beckham having been scheduled to visit with the New York Jets on Sunday night, according to multiple reports. But instead of teaming with potentially Aaron Rodgers, it appears the 5-foot-11, 198-pound Beckham will instead have Lamar Jackson — or perhaps someone else — throwing him passes next season. The two have a good relationship and though Jackson has yet to sign his $32.4 million nonexclusive franchise tag with the Ravens, Beckham’s son was seen sporting a Jackson jersey in the wide receiver’s Instagram post announcing his decision to join Baltimore.
Beckham’s move to Baltimore also reunites him with Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who was also Beckham’s offensive coordinator in Cleveland in 2019.
“I really like Odell. Odell is super athletic, twitchy. [He] really likes football. I really did [like him],” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said of Beckham at his introductory news conference in February. “He’s like every skill player; he’s no different — I don’t know why everybody gets pissed off — like, he wants the ball. Well, really? I don’t know where I’ve been where a great player didn’t want the ball. I don’t know where a basketball player didn’t want shots or a baseball player didn’t want to get at-bats. That’s what they want; they want opportunities to showcase their ability. I think it’s awesome.”
