New York Giants: Players Loved Beckham, Claims Landon Collins

odell beckham jr., new york giants
Sep 9, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) during warmups before a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The departure of Landon Collins made waves during this offseason for the New York Giants, and that departure is something that Collins recently spoke to NJ Advance Media about. However, it didn’t end up being the biggest departure of the offseason. That title would have to go to the Odell Beckham Jr. trade which sent the Giants’ top receiver to Cleveland in exchange for Jabrill Peppers and two draft picks, both of which would be spent improving the defense in the draft.

There’s still a hot debate around the exact reason why the Giants moved on from Beckham, whether that’s character concerns or a lack of confidence in Beckham’s ability on the field or something else. There’s been an ongoing argument about whether Beckham’s character is a good thing or a bad thing for the Giants, but it’s hard to tell which side has the truth without having hard evidence in either direction.

Collins, however, would naturally be knowledgeable about the Giants locker room, and that locker room’s opinion of Beckham is something that he spoke about with NJ Advance Media.

“We loved him. Odell is my brother. He is not that kind of guy, or what people think he is about or what the organization did. I don’t know why,” Collins said about Beckham.

But while Collins did say that Beckham was loved by the players, he also stated that the team felt like Beckham was a problem.

“Was I shocked with Odell? No, honestly, not. They felt like he was a problem the whole time. Ever since Odell stepped into the league with them, they felt like he was a problem, I felt like from the outside.”

It’s impossible to know completely whether or not Collins is right with his assumption, but a player like Collins who is no longer connected to the organization has less motivation to offer false but non controversial statements.

But it’s also too late for Collins’ statements to change anything, with both players being on other teams now and the Giants heading in a completely different direction that involves replacing Beckham with three new defensive additions that came about as a result of his trade.

Will Jabrill Peppers, Dexter Lawrence, and Oshane Ximines be able to make up for the lost production from Beckham? That’s just something we’ll have to wait for this season to see.