The Ravens have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., adding the three-time Pro Bowl pick in their most ambitious offseason move even as they continue to face uncertainty regarding franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Terms of the deal were not announced, but NFL Network reported the deal to be worth $15 million, with another $3 million in potential incentives.
The Ravens had less than $7 million in cap space according to the latest figures from the NFL Players Association, meaning they would need to do some creative bookkeeping and essentially push some money into future cap years to make room for Beckham.
Still, the move adds an elite receiver to an offense that is being reinvented under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who worked with Beckham with the Cleveland Browns in 2019, and speculation is that the addition of Beckham could help break the impasse between Jackson and the Ravens.
Jackson was given the nonexclusive franchise tag by the team last month, essentially a one-year contract worth roughly $32 million should he sign the tender. He later revealed that he has asked to be traded after the two sides could not work out a contract extension. Jackson’s five-year rookie contract expired this spring.
Jackson is thought to be seeking a contract in the neighborhood of the fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal Deshaun Watson got from the Browns. Up until now, he has found no takers, with no offer sheets extended by any other team.
Under the terms of the nonexclusive franchise tag, the Ravens would have the right to match any such offer.
Whether Jackson or someone else is at quarterback for the Ravens this fall, Beckham, 30, becomes by far the most accomplished receiver on the roster.
The No. 12 overall pick in the 2014 draft out of LSU, Beckham topped 1,000 receiving yards in five of his first six seasons, including 2019, when his offensive coordinator was Monken.
Beckham’s time in Cleveland was acrimonious, though. He missed much of the 2020 season with a torn ACL, at various points he reportedly asked to be traded, and then midway through the 2021 season he was released, not long after his family posted social media highlights of all the times Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield didn’t throw Beckham the ball.
Asked at his Ravens introductory news conference about Beckham, Monken praised the receiver and added, “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.”
Days after being let go by the Browns, Beckham joined the Los Angeles Rams and ultimately won a Super Bowl with his new team, but suffered a torn ACL in the Super Bowl, and he has not played since. Beckham sat out the 2022 season rehabbing, and then worked out for teams this spring to illustrate his readiness.
Beckham was reportedly set to visit the New York Jets but agreed to terms with the Ravens the day before that visit.
The Ravens had the least productive wide receiver group in the league last season, with the receivers totaling a league-low 1,517 yards. Demarcus Robinson led the group with 458. Former top draft pick Rashod Bateman missed the final 11 games of the season with a foot injury.
The Ravens last week also signed veteran receiver Nelson Agholor, and with the addition of both him and Beckham, the team is making good on head coach John Harbaugh’s pledge to rebuild that position room after the disappointing production in 2022.
Beckham in his career has 531 catches for 7,367 yards — more than all other receivers on the Ravens roster combined — and 56 touchdowns.
Now, the question will again circle back to the one that has dominated the NFL throughout the offseason: Who, in Baltimore, will be throwing the ball?
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