He did not play a single snap in 2025
Odell Beckham Jr. survived cut-down day. The New York Giants kept the 33-year-old receiver on their initial 53-man roster on Sunday, 20 months after his last regular-season appearance.
None of it was promised. Beckham signed in the spring and new head coach John Harbaugh told him plainly that a spot would have to be earned. He spent the entire summer on the practice field working toward it.
The preseason numbers were modest: seven catches on 13 targets for 76 yards. Friday was his best night, three receptions for 53 yards in a 23-6 win over the Jets.
“He played well. He got better as camp went on,” Harbaugh said. “He deserves credit for that.”
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An ACL tear in front of him opened the door
Timing helped. Calvin Austin III tore an ACL earlier in the week and went straight to season-ending injured reserve, which left a vacancy in a receiver room whose back end was never settled.
There is a symmetry to the whole thing. The Giants took Beckham 12th overall out of LSU in 2014, watched him win Offensive Rookie of the Year, then made three consecutive Pro Bowls. He left for Cleveland in 2019 with 390 catches, 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns in a New York uniform.
Seven years, four teams, one ring
Since the trade he has played for the Rams, the Ravens and the Dolphins, winning Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles. His last competitive snap came in December 2024, in Miami.
Then came 2025, a year with no football in it at all. A six-game suspension for breaching the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy left him unsigned for the duration. He returns to the club that drafted him as a role player rather than the name on the jersey everyone buys.
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