Everyone is tired of it by now, but there’s once again Odell Beckham Jr. trade rumors. While there’s a high chance that this is just offseason talk that won’t have much of an impact when the season rolls around, some of these rumors are picking up steam and getting attention from the press around the league. Everyone seems to have a different take on it, either in favor of or against Beckham, but one person that takes Beckham’s side is Greg Jennings, former Pro Bowl wide receiver.
Jennings appeared on FS1’s Undisputed and had some things to say about the controversial situation. “The fact of the matter is, Odell Beckham is one of the best receivers in all of football when healthy and [has] a quarterback that can get him the football,” Jennings said. Obviously, that’s a slight towards Eli Manning, who had an alright season in 2018 but didn’t perform to the standard needed to turn several close losses into wins.
But realistically, both Manning and Beckham underperformed this season. That’s not to say that the Giants should give up on building around Beckham because of it, but it’s not as simple as putting all of the blame on Manning and saying that Beckham would be back to putting on great performances if the quarterback was different.
Jennings isn’t a fan of the idea of a trade and says that it’s something the Giants should “absolutely not” do. “This is one of your best players when healthy and when given a great opportunity to compete at a high level. And when I look at Odell Beckham, I look at a young man who… We judge off of everything we’ve seen in the past. but we overlook all the good and the pros about him.”
It seems like a reasonable enough take. Beckham consistently has more negativity around him than any of the other star players on the Giants roster, and few other players around the league have had as many trade rumors brought up about them. Last season, however, it all turned out to be noise. Many will hope that this season, the end result is the same: just noise, and no action.