The rumor mill is beginning to swirl in regards to Odell Beckham Jr., but the Cleveland Browns should not trade the talented wide receiver.
Death, taxes, everyone trying to trade Odell Beckham Jr. out of Cleveland. It is that time of year again where everyone is trying to force the divorce of Beckham and the Browns. The reality of the situation is that the team should consider trading Beckham at this time.
While the lack of chemistry between Odell Beckham Jr. and Baker Mayfield has been highly profiled in the past, they still do not appear to be on the same page. Odell Beckham Jr. has just nine receptions for 134 yards this season, but it is not for a lack of trying. Beckham is open on 72% of his route five or more yards down the field this season according to John Kosko.
https://twitter.com/JohnKosko3/status/1447644289517948935?s=20
The issue here is that Mayfield simply is not attempting passes down the field, instead opting for a large volume of short passes. This has resulted a in a lack of targets (19) despite being open at the same rate of the league leader in receptions (42) and yards (579).
Even though Odell Beckham Jr.’s numbers this season pale in comparison to Davante Adams’, his presence on the field makes an impact. The reason why Rashard Higgins was able to get wide open and score an easy touchdown? Beckham drew the focus of the defense resulting in an easy catch for Higgins who made his way to the end zone.
The gravity of Odell Beckham @NextGenStats #Browns pic.twitter.com/oC8tL78Yqa
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) October 10, 2021
Without Beckham on the field the defense would have properly accounted for Higgins making things a bit more difficult for Mayfield to throw his first touchdown pass to a wide receiver this season. In order for players like Higgins or David Njoku to have any sort of impact, they need a player of Beckham’s caliber to draw some attention from the defense.
Currently the Browns offense has only 15 explosive plays through the air this season (receptions of 20 or more yards). Cleveland is tied for the ninth-fewest in the NFL with Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, and Miami. Removing a player who has the ability to make explosive plays such as Odell Beckham Jr. does not seem to be a good idea for a passing game that is severely lacking them.
There is really no reason to entertain trading Odell Beckham Jr. even with the disappointing production up to this point. While relegating a player as highly paid as Beckham is to a glorified decoy due to Mayfield’s inability to make a connection is not optimal, being able to have someone open things up for players such as Higgins, David Njoku, and Donovan Peoples-Jones is highly valuable. This is all before considering the fact that Cleveland getting a mid-round pick in return for Beckham would be highly optimistic at this time. Weighing the options of a future draft pick versus whatever production Beckham provides the decision is easy, a trade should not be an option at this time.
