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Report: Odell Beckham Jr. Prepared to Cause ‘Issues’ If Wrong Team Claims Him Off Waivers

In Monday’s Hot Clicks: OBJ’s strange threat to potential suitors, a horrendous call in the Ram–Titans game and more.

Dan Gartland

Report: Odell Beckham Jr. Prepared to Cause ‘Issues’ If Wrong Team Claims Him Off Waivers
Report: Odell Beckham Jr. Prepared to Cause ‘Issues’ If Wrong Team Claims Him Off Waivers /

Is he worth the headache?

Odell Beckham Jr.’s quick and messy divorce from the Browns will be finalized on Monday, as Cleveland is expected to waive the disgruntled receiver after restructuring his contract to facilitate the move.

Every team in the league will have the opportunity to pick Beckham up on waivers, but they better think twice before submitting a claim.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Beckham “does not want to go to just any team.” He’s hoping to go to “a playoff contender and in a winning environment, where he believes he would be happy and productive.”

Fair enough. What player doesn’t want a chance to win a Super Bowl? But here’s where Schefter’s report gets interesting. He writes that Beckham is willing to make life difficult for his next team if he ends up somewhere he doesn’t want to be.

“If a team that does not fit this criteria claims Beckham and the $7.25 million remaining on his contract, there could be potential issues for that team, according to a source, although it is unclear exactly what those issues would be,” Schefter wrote.

I think the way Beckham left New York and Cleveland makes it abundantly clear what those issues would be. Schefter’s report reads like Beckham and his agent telling every cellar dweller thinking of submitting a waiver claim, “That’s a nice football team you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.”

The chances Beckham would have been claimed on waivers were slim to begin with. After restructuring his contract to void the final two years of the deal, Beckham is owed $7.5 million for the rest of this season if he gets claimed on waivers. (If he goes unclaimed by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. waiver deadline, the Browns owe him $4.25 million.) Schefter reported on Friday that the steep price tag meant it was unlikely Beckham would be claimed on waivers. So then why did Beckham’s camp even think it was necessary to make the threat about “potential issues”?

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said on NBC’s Football Night in America that Beckham would prefer to go to the Seahawks but the 49ers and his hometown Saints are also contenders. From a pure entertainment standpoint, Seattle seems like a great destination for him. Either Beckham pairs with stud receivers D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to form a fearsome trio of wideouts, or he becomes Russell Wilson’s distant third option behind those guys and throws a tantrum over not getting the ball enough that fuels several more weeks of a drama-filled news cycle.

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No thanks

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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