In agreeing to a one-year contract with three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Sunday, the Ravens made their biggest splash of the offseason and in the same move delivered a strong message to disgruntled quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The deal is for $15 million, with $13.835 million of that coming in the form of a signing bonus and $1.165 million in base salary, and Beckham could make up to $3 million more in incentives, according to multiple reports.
More importantly, Beckham’s addition gives the Ravens a much-needed jolt on multiple fronts.
Beckham, 30, joins a receiving corps that ranked last in the NFL in receiving yards in three of the last four years. Jackson and Beckham are also said to have a good relationship — Beckham’s son was seen sporting a Jackson jersey in the wide receiver’s Instagram post announcing his decision to join Baltimore. The latter could go a long way toward the organization smoothing things over with the quarterback, who last month requested to be traded five days before the Ravens gave him a nonexclusive franchise tag that he has yet to sign.
CBS’ Josina Anderson also reported on Sunday night that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti has been in frequent communication with Beckham, pitching him on the idea of coming to Baltimore, the support he would have with the team and the necessity of helping to square things with Jackson as well. By Sunday night, Jackson and his newest wide receiver had already connected via FaceTime, with Jackson posting screenshots of the call to his Instagram.
While there are questions about Beckham’s health after he 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, when healthy he has proved to be one of the league’s better receivers. 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. Over the course of 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 comes a little more than a week after Beckham showed up at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix to meet with multiple teams, which reportedly included the Ravens.
“The love was there, good meeting…[Lot of] people and teams I bumped into,” Beckham said at the time, according to Anderson.
There was also plenty of competition for the 5-foot-11, 198-pound Beckham, who had met with and worked out for several teams in recent months. Beckham was also scheduled to visit with the New York Jets on Sunday night, according to multiple reports, and was reportedly interested in the possibility of potentially teaming with Aaron Rodgers but instead opted for Baltimore and Jackson.
His signing with the Ravens also reunites him with new Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who was also Beckham’s offensive coordinator in Cleveland in 2019. Beckham had 74 catches on 130 targets for 1,035 yards and four touchdowns that season.
“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.”
With the Ravens, Beckham immediately has a chance to be the team’s top target for Jackson.
Last season, tight end Mark Andrews led all pass catchers with 73 receptions for 847 yards and five touchdowns. He also led the team in targets by a wide margin with 113.
As for the wide receivers, Rashod Bateman had 15 catches for 285 yards through six games but underwent season-ending surgery on a Lisfranc (foot) injury in November. DeMarcus Robinson, who signed with the Ravens in August after being released by the Las Vegas Raiders and is currently a free agent, ended up leading the group in yards (458) and catches (48), while Devin Duvernay topped all wideouts with three touchdowns.
The Ravens also added free agent receiver and former New England Patriot Nelson Agholor last month, giving Jackson a much-needed deep threat. But Beckham is by far their best receiver addition in years, with none of the Ravens’ receivers having tallied a single 1,000-yard season, compared to the five that Beckham has registered.
Beckham, who was drafted by the Giants 12th overall in 2014, was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and spent five years in New York before being dealt to the Browns in 2019 and then the Rams in 2021.
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