OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Odell Beckham Jr. moved to the center of the room, a Ravens hat on his head, all smiles as he sat between head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta. Family and friends occupied the first two rows of the Ravens auditorium, while Beckham’s 1-year-old son, Zydn, made his presence known as well.
Beckham had 15 million reasons to smile at his Ravens introductory news conference on April 13, given that’s the value of the one-year contract the three-time Pro Bowl pick signed with Baltimore, becoming the most high-profile, most aggressive move the Ravens have made this offseason as they try to jump-start their offense even while they — and Beckham — face uncertainty as to who will be the starting quarterback.
“Today is a great day for the Ravens,” Harbaugh said.
Once Beckham agreed to his one-year, $15 million deal — which reportedly could climb to $18 million with incentives — speculation quickly turned to quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has been locked in a contract impasse with the Ravens and revealed last month that he has asked to be traded.
Jackson and Beckham shared on social media that they had conversed after Beckham’s deal was finalized, but while Beckham said he was excited about the opportunity to play with Jackson, he said that he got no assurances that Jackson would be the Ravens quarterback in 2023, a storyline that has dominated the NFL offseason.
Rather than risking losing Jackson as a free agent at the end of his rookie deal this spring, the Ravens applied the nonexclusive franchise tag, essentially giving Jackson a one-year, $32 million deal that is considered undervalued for a former league MVP in his prime.
The nonexclusive tag means any other team is free to negotiate with Jackson — who does not have a certified agent — but the Ravens have the chance to match any offer sheet. Five weeks into free agency, no such offers had materialized.
Asked at Beckham’s news conference about Jackson’s status, DeCosta maintained the company line he has held throughout the offseason regarding negotiations with Jackson, saying, “Our feelings about Lamar have not changed one bit since the end of the season. We’re hopeful, still, that we’ll get a long-term deal done.”
DeCosta would not elaborate on any discussions that the two sides have had since Jackson revealed that he had asked to be traded on March 2, citing that the Ravens had not been “interested in meeting my value.”
Jackson, who has not met with the media since December, is thought to be seeking a contract in the neighborhood of the five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed deal the Cleveland Browns gave quarterback Deshaun Watson last offseason. Many in the league, including Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, have decried that deal as an anomaly that should not be viewed as any frame of reference for future deals.
Bisciotti, though, was instrumental in closing the deal to bring Beckham to Baltimore, according to Beckham. After he spoke to the Ravens owner, Beckham said, “He had me fired up just about the opportunity, about the team.”
It’s an uncharacteristically risky play for the Ravens, given that the contract and cap figures demand that the Ravens push some of the money into future years — something they are loathe to do — and that Beckham, 30, has not played in 15 months since suffering his second major knee injury during the Super Bowl while he played for the Los Angeles Rams.
But DeCosta said the move to sign Beckham has been “percolating” for the past year, and he and Harbaugh vowed to rebuild the wide receiver room this year after Ravens receivers totaled a league-low 1,517 yards in 2022. Former first-round draft pick Rashod Bateman, the presumptive No. 1 receiver, missed the final 11 games with a foot injury, and Demarcus Robinson led the group with 458 yards.
Beckham, a magnetic presence who is most famous for his phenomenal, one-handed catch over Brandon Carr while playing for the New York Giants, instantly becomes by far the most accomplished wide receiver on the roster.
The Ravens also signed free agent receiver Nelson Agholor this offseason, joining Bateman, Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace, among others.
Beckham in his career has 531 catches for 7,367 yards — more than all other receivers on the Ravens’ roster combined — and 56 touchdowns.
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 with the Cleveland Browns, when his offensive coordinator was new Ravens offensive coordinator Todd 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 Rams and ultimately won a Super Bowl with his new team, but he left that game with an ACL injury and has not played since. Beckham sat out the 2022 season rehabbing then worked out for teams to illustrate his readiness.
DeCosta was sold, based on the reports he got from assistant coach Keith Williams, who was at the workout, and then again after meeting with Beckham at the owners meetings in Arizona.
“I have to tell you, after two minutes in Arizona sitting across the table from Odell,” DeCosta said, “I had no doubt in my mind that this was the right guy for the team.”
“We’re getting somebody who’s ready to explode again,” DeCosta added. “And he’s in the right environment, with the right quarterback, with the right team, in the right city. It’s the perfect player at the perfect time.”
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