Odell Beckham Jr. may not pass through waivers after all. At least, that could be what the Seattle Seahawks are hinting.
With Beckham officially placed on waivers Monday, all 32 teams can put in a claim for the former Pro Bowl wide receiver before the 4 p.m. Tuesday deadline. If Beckham goes unclaimed, he can sign with any team. So, are the Seahawks hinting he won’t hit free agency? Pete Carroll has shown some interest in teaming Beckham with Russell Wilson.
“We’ll see how this all goes,” Carroll said Monday. “As you would think, we’re aware of what’s going on and we’ve been involved to understand to know what’s happening. We’ll let you know as it all happens.
“So I didn’t say yes or I didn’t say no. You’ll see.”
The Lions and Saints have already said they won’t claim Beckham. Here’s a look at how we ranked the most likely teams to do so as well as the waiver wire order.
The Seahawks have claimed star receivers in the past, landing Josh Gordon off waivers from the New England Patriots in 2019. Gordon caught seven passes for 139 yards (19.9 yards per catch) in five games with Seattle when the Seahawks claimed him late that season. Gordon was a reliable third option for the Seahawks in the short time they had him, but was suspended in December of 2019 for violating the league’s substance abuse and performance-enhancing drug policies. He never played another game for Seattle.
Beckham’s situation is a bit different. He has only 17 catches for 232 yards and zero touchdowns in six games this season, expressing his frustration of his lack of involvement in the Cleveland Browns offense through outside sources like his father. The Browns publicly defended Beckham, even though both sides agreed it was better to move on.
Beckham has 114 catches for 1,586 yards and seven touchdowns in 29 games with the Browns, averaging 13.9 yards per catch. Teams claiming Beckham would assume his contract for the rest of the season at $7.25 million.
The Seahawks do have enough cap space to absorb Beckham’s contract, having the fourth-most available cap space in the league at $13.3 million. The Jacksonville Jaguars have the most at $27.7 million, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles at $21.2 million, then the Denver Broncos at $15.2 million.
