Tiki Barber Backs New York Giants In Odell Beckham Jr. Trade

New York Giants Odell Beckham Jr.
Jul 26, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr (13) catches the ball during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The debate around whether or not the New York Giants should have moved on from top receiver Odell Beckham Jr. or not is one that isn’t going to end any time soon. Most likely, the debate isn’t going to be over until years have passed and it’s possible to compare the trajectories of both sides following the trade. For now, that’s not possible, and all we can do is speculate on the merits or downsides of the trade.

And right now, there’s a lot of voices speaking in favor of either side. One of those happens to be former Giants running back Tiki Barber, who shared his thoughts on the situation with the New York Post last week.

“I think Odell wanted to go and Dave Gettleman and the New York Giants acquiesced. He’s in a better place. And I think it may actually be OK for the Giants he’s not here. He wasn’t reaching his potential. He felt like he was being constrained, either by the offensive play-calling or whatever it may have been. He wasn’t happy,” Barber said about Beckham.

It’s true that Beckham wasn’t able to reach his potential for the last couple of seasons with the Giants, both because of injury reasons and because of tensions with the front office that would eventually make the decision to ship Beckham off to Cleveland.

The question is whether or not the Giants will be better off for making the trade or not, even if Beckham almost surely will be. That’s something that Barber isn’t sure about just yet.

“I thought it was the right thing [to do]. I don’t know if it was the best thing, because he’s a brand and iconic in ways I don’t know if a Giant player has ever been since [Lawrence Taylor]. But football is not about an individual. It’s about a team. And I think the Giants are trying to build a great team right now.”

The Giants seem to have a strange approach to team building right now and this season could be the make or break one for the man behind that plan, Dave Gettleman. There’s one thing that’s sure, and that’s the fact that there will be much more pressure on Gettleman if there’s not an immediate payoff for making such a dramatic move as trading Beckham.