Trading Odell Beckham Jr. was always going to receive massive backlash from fans and analysts alike, but New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur believes the deal was worth it, despite losing a generational talent.
New York Giants HC Shurmur stated on Tuesday:
“We’re building,†Shurmur said at the NFL Annual League Meeting. “Obviously Odell is an outstanding player, but it’s business. I really believe we got good value in return.”
The Giants trade Beckham for the No. 17 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft and former first-round pick safety, Jabrill Peppers. While the return on investment wasn’t exactly jaw-dropping, the Giants did manage to acquire several assets to further help build the team in a time of restructuring.
The problem – Dave Gettleman signed Beckham to a massive contract and will eat $16 million in cap space this year, putting his team further under the water. If the Giants truly wish to build and compete at the same time, putting the team in cap-hell certainly isn’t the most efficient move.
But, while 2019 doesn’t offer much optimism, the salary cap will open up in bounds in 2020. This is when the team can fully take shape and begin to gain the necessary pieces for prolonged success.
Odell Beckham Jr. doesn’t have anything to say to Shurmur:
After the trade, Shurmur reached out to the star wideout to speak with him about the decision. Beckham simply didn’t respond and has yet to after two weeks of silence.
“I’m sure at some point we’ll finally talk,†Shurmur said.
The coach took a small shot at the receiver, stating:
“I really do believe it takes a village to spread the ball around,†Shurmur said. “We have a lot of fine players on offense so we’ll just spread the ball. Unfortunately, Odell was hurt at the back half of the season, and we were able to score the most points of the year. And so we’ll find a way.â€
Essentially, he’s saying the Giants don’t need Beckham to score a lot of points, and they extracted value in a place that the team didn’t need to be investing so much money.
I anticipate the offense being more spread out after the departure of Beckham.