Social Media is all a buzz as Odell Beckham Jr. continues to shop for a new team to call home before the November free agent deadline arrives. The veteran wide receiver won Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams last year, scoring one touchdown.
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Unfortunately, OBJ suffered a devastating torn ACL during the February Big Game and has been a free agent since the end of last season. This season began with the wideout celebrating over Rams rings in Week 1 and it looked like Sean McVay's Rams were still hoping to re-sign Beckham. Fast forward to Week 7 and the open market is filled with gossip over where the vet will end up — could Kansas City be at the top of the list?
The Podcast That Launched a Thousand Theories
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OBJ hasn't shied away from fanning the gossip flames. In fact, he's taken to Twitter to encourage the chatter himself.
But this week the Kansas City Chiefs record breaking tight end, Travis Kelce, elevated the speculation swirling around OBJ joining the former Super Bowl Champs. No. 87's podcast "New Heights" is a collaboration with another Kelce, the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles star center and Travis's brother, Jason Kelce. If you haven't tuned into the Kelce brother's New Heights I strongly encourage it — and if you haven't, you might have missed the OBJ gossip monster this week's episode awakened.
In a clip, and pinned tweet on New Heights Twitter page I might add, Jason asked his brother about his recent contract negotiating.
Fans were blown away to learn that Kansas City's Kelce restructured his contract, freeing up cap space as Travis said to "get better as a team". Without missing a beat, Eagle's Kelce asked his brother if this was tied to the rumors about OBJ.
In what the Philly's center called, "playing a little coy with it", the tight end did not confirm or deny the speculation. But he did say — "something's in the air" — and that was enough to send NFL fans, especially Chiefs fans, into a frenzy. Beckham's Twitter response to the NFL brothers' conversation didn't do much to cool the conversation either.
Just saying … 👀 https://t.co/30BH7cV4UD
— New Heights (@newheightshow) October 19, 2022
I can see it now, one more deadly bullet added to Mahomes offensive weapon. A healthy Beckham could be another kill shot for Kansas City. There'd be even more deadly targets for defenses to cover. So is there weight to this rumor? Social media sure is bustling with so called "evidence" that the Super Bowl winning wide receiver was recently in the BBQ Mecca. But let's get real, until we hear Veach or Reid confirming speculation it's just that, sheer speculation. Coach Reid danced around the issue when asked about Beckham's future at Friday's presser.
"Yeah, listen, I can't get into all that," Reid said. "He's a heck of a football player, that I can tell you. I don't know where he is as far as his rehab goes and that whole deal. Brett's always maneuvering. He keeps his eyes open on everything. In my position, I'm like tunneled in on what I'm doing and trying to get the team ready to play with the guys that we've got. I'm not going to slight (OBJ), he's a good football player."
If Not KC, Where?
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There's plenty to still speculate on — after all, Kansas City isn't the only team OBJ's flirting with. Right now he's having fun playing the field, so no fandoms should start celebrating quite yet. Let's take a look at the other franchises hoping OBJ will swipe right.
Most of the gossip has been bouncing around Kansas City, Buffalo, Green Bay and Los Angeles. But this week Beckham added to the hysteria by tweeting at New York's running back Saquon Barkley about a "family reunion" — leaving fans wondering if now the Giants were possibly a landing place for the receiver. The Giants are currently 5-1 right behind the dominant Eagles in the NFC East, so it's not surprising that Odell might be tempted to return to the Big Apple.
The two remaining contenders, as I see it, have been in the conversation for a while — the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay Packers. In either scenario Beckham would have two elite quarterbacks connecting with him. You'd be hard pressed to find a receiver in the league who wouldn't get amped at the thought of catching passes from the canons of Josh Allen or Aaron Rodgers.
Buffalo Bills new defensive addition, Von Miller, feels confident his friend will sign with his team. He spoke at length about it on Richard Sherman's podcast, "The Richard Sherman Podcast," this month. Sherman mentioned how dope he thought it would be to see OBJ land in New York, but not upstate...with the Giants. Buffalo's leading sack attack quickly interjected.
"But let's be real," Miller said. "He's coming to the Bills. He's coming to the Bills. It's already said and done. He's coming to the Bills. We're down a couple of receivers, man."
The Bills star linebacker continues to share his certainty. After the Bills win against their newest rivals in Kansas City he told USA Today Sports On Sunday, "He's coming here, man," Miller enthusiastically said. "He's coming to the Bills."
And then there's the Packers, who could undoubtedly use more targets for Aaron Rodgers. On the other hand, this will most likely be the veteran quarterbacks final season in the league and if OBJ is looking for a long term deal that alone could deter him from going with Green Bay.
Waiting for a Decision
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It feels like Beckham would fit best with a young quarterback who's leading a promising powerhouse franchise. This leaves one of the teams in Buffalo, Kansas City, or Los Angeles as the most likely future home for the receiver. One thing is certain — one Super Bowl contending team is going to look very different come November. Here's to hoping we can bring an end to the tornado of suspicions circling the popular free agent sooner rather than later. Until then, we'll keep refreshing our Twitter accounts hoping for some breaking news on the future of Odell Beckham Jr.
