Odell Beckham Jr.’s workout draws interest from Cleveland Browns

On Mar 10, 2023

Cleveland Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr. warms up in a Jarvis Landry shirt before the game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio, at FirstEnergy Stadium. [Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal]

Time is sometimes the best healer of old wounds. Even between football teams and disgruntled wide receivers.

A league source confirmed to the Beacon Journal on Friday that the Browns were among the teams in Arizona to watch Odell Beckham Jr. go through a private workout for NFL teams. CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones was the first to report.

According to the source, the Browns were doing their “diligence” in watching their former receiver, who was released by Cleveland on Nov. 8, 2021. Beckham Jr. has been recovering from a torn ACL he suffered while playing for the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals in February 2022.

Jones reported that other teams in attendance included the Panthers, Giants, Patriots, Rams, Cardinals, 49ers, Bills, Chiefs, Vikings and Ravens. The Giants, Browns and Rams are the teams Beckham has played for during his eight-year career.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) reacts as he watches a replay of his catch on the scoreboard during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Beckham Jr. arrived with the Browns to massive fanfare when then-general manager John Dorsey acquired him in a trade with the Giants on March 13, 2019. The Browns also acquired Olivier Vernon in the trade, which cost them Jabrill Peppers, Kevin Zeitler and a first- and third-round pick in the 2019 draft.

The hype never entirely match the production for Beckham Jr. in Cleveland, although he did post a 1,035-yard receiving season on 74 catches in 2019. That was also the only season in which he played in every game.

Beckham Jr. was limited to just seven games in the 2020 season due to a torn ACL sustained in Week 7 at Cincinnati. He finished with 23 catches for 319 yards and three receiving touchdowns.

Things dissolved with Beckham Jr. and the Browns in 2021, in large part because it fell apart between he and quarterback Baker Mayfield. In six games for Cleveland that season, he had just 17 catches for 232 yards and no touchdowns.

It came to a head two days after a Week 8 home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, when a video was posted on his father’s verified Instagram account highlighting the Browns’ missed opportunities from Weeks 3-6 when his son was open. Beckham Jr. missed two practices that week before the team announced on Nov. 5 of that year they would be releasing the receiver.