Giants Trade Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland Browns for Jabrill Peppers, Draft Picks
The Giants have traded star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland, the Browns confirmed Wednesday.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo first reported the trade on Tuesday.
The Giants will receive a first-round pick in 2019 (No. 17 overall), the Browns' second third-round pick (No. 95 overall) this year, right guard Kevin Zeitler and safety Jabrill Peppers.
New York also sent defensive end Olivier Vernon to Cleveland with Beckham Jr. Vernon tallied 30 tackles, including five for loss, along with seven sacks last season for the Giants en route to his first Pro Bowl.
“It's a reflection of the direction the organization is headed,” Browns general manager John Dorsey said in a statement. “My hat's off to a lot of people in this organization because we spent countless hours, weeks– I mean, we can go all the way back to December when we began the planning phases of these types of acquisitions. So my hat's off to a lot of people in the personnel department and the coaching staff. And for ownership for allowing these types of things to happen. It shows you that ownership is committed to winning."
He continued: "Then, when you talk about the players. Each of them respectively are very good football players who will come in here and help us achieve our goal, and that's to be competitive year in and year out in the AFC North. And hopefully, they are some of the pieces that will help us awaken this sleeping giant."
After the trade for Beckham, Dorsey and agent Drew Rosenhaus mutually agreed no to follow through on the verbal agreement with wide receiver Breshad Perriman. Perriman will now sign a one-year, $4 million deal with the Buccaneer, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Beckham spent the first five seasons of his career with New York, who selected the wideout with 12th pick of the 2014 NFL draft. He caught 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns through 59 games during his Giants tenure.
Last season, Beckham appeared in 12 games, recording 77 receptions for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns. He missed the final four games of the regular season due to a quadriceps injury.
Beckham, 26, signed a five-year, $90 million contract extension with New York ahead of the 2018 season. In 2017, he had appeared in just four games after suffering an ankle fracture that necessitated season-ending surgery.
Beckham is scheduled to make $16.75 million in base salary in 2019, according to Spotrac.
During the 2018 campaign, Beckham publicly vocalized his frustrations with the Giants offense during an interview with ESPN's Josina Anderson. When asked if quarterback Eli Manning was the problem with New York's offensive struggles, he said he wasn't sure.
In February, after the Giants finished 5–11, Beckham posted a cryptic emoji message on Twitter after it was predicted that he could be dealt during the offseason. The Athletic's Jeff Howe reported that the Giants were including Beckham's name during trade discussions as the free-agency period began.
According to SuperBook USA, the Browns' chances to win the Super Bowl moved from 30/1 to 14/1 following the trade. The team's odds to win the AFC Championship also went up from 10/1 to 7/1.
