Joe Schoen Addresses Odell Beckham Jr.'s Status as Giants Continue to Weigh Reunion

Will there be a reunion between the New York Giants and receiver Odell Beckham Jr?

Beckham has made no secret of the fact that he’d love to rejoin the team where his NFL career got started back in 2014, and the Giants have extended him the courtesies of a workout, which they did prior to the draft, as well as a follow-up discussion held earlier this week between the receiver and head coach John Harbaugh.

But as of Thursday night, there was no new progress to report, according to general manager Joe Schoen.

“Yeah, no updates on that,” Schoen said during an appearance on The Insiders.

“We worked him out a couple of weeks ago, you know, and he did a good job in terms of that.”

But is there really interest on the part of the Giants in bringing back the now 33-year-old receiver whose last 1,000-yard season was in 2019?

“We're gonna continue to always work on the roster regardless of the position and try to upgrade where we can,” Schoen said.

“Odell is a guy that we had in for a workout, and we'll continue to have conversations with his camp and see where it goes.”

Odell Beckham Jr. | Danielle Parhizkaran / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There was immediate speculation that a reunion with Beckham was more solidified after it was reported that receiver Darius Slayton underwent surgery for a core muscle injury.

Slayton, however, is expected to be ready for the start of training camp, a factor that would appear to have no bearing on what the team does with Beckham.

“I really like him,” head coach John Harbaugh said of Beckham last week after the Giants’ draft concluded.

“I think if we do anything, it has to make sense for the Giants. It has to make sense for him. He's in a different place in his career, for sure,” he added.

Where would Odell fit?

With the team having drafted receiver Malachi Fields to pair with Malik Nabers and tight end Isaiah Likely, it’s hard to fathom how a reunion with Beckham for anything other than sentimental reasons would make sense unless there is concern that Nabers, who is rehabbing from ACL surgery, might not be ready for the start of the season.

Otherwise, it’s hard to envision a spot for Beckham, who doesn’t give a team anything on special teams and who, at least to the Giants, would probably be a WR3 who isn’t worth anything more than a veteran salary benefit deal.

Beckham might not see things that way.

“He still thinks he has some juice, and he looked good in the workout,” Harbaugh said, adding, “You still got to be able to play.”

And even Harbaugh conceded that the version of Beckham who electrified the MetLife Stadium field during his first go-round with the Giants is a thing of the past.

“It's not going to be the old Odell. It's going to be a different version—the 2.0 Odell,” Harbaugh said.

“We're not decided on that yet. He's not quite decided on that yet. I think we just have to see.”

Based on what Harbaugh said, Beckham might not see things that way.

“He still thinks he has some juice, and he looked good in the workout,” the head coach said. “You still got to be able to play.”

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