A return to the NFL could be in store for Odell Beckham Jr., and it might come in the city where it all started. Beckham traveled to Arizona this week to conduct conversations with the New York Giants at the NFL’s annual meeting, according to ESPN. While no deal is imminent, Beckham spoke with coach John Harbaugh and members of the front office in a key step toward a potential reunion.
There appears to be mutual interest between Beckham and the Giants, and things progressed in short order. The two-time All-Pro receiver recently stood out at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic and indicated his desire to get back onto an NFL roster for the first time since 2024.
“Looking forward to hopefully getting an opportunity to play this year, and this is kind of just the starting point,” Beckham said at the flag football event.
Beckham spent the first five years of his career with the Giants after they selected him in the first round of the 2014 draft, and he earned all three of his Pro Bowl selections during that stint. He bounced around rosters from 2019 onward, though, and last made an appearance on the field in 2024 with the Miami Dolphins.
What was one of the greatest starts to a career for a wide receiver in NFL history fizzled out after five 1,000-yard seasons. If Beckham has anything left in the tank, expectations would be modest. The Giants could benefit from a veteran target to pair with second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart, however, and this franchise is more familiar with Beckham than any.
Not only does Beckham know the ins and outs of the Giants franchise, but he also has a good relationship with new coach John Harbaugh. His most recent start came in 2023 during a lone season under Harbaugh’s tutelage with the Baltimore Ravens.
Beckham’s potential teammates, coach chime in
Beckham would not be asked to fill a huge role in the Giants’ offense, as Malik Nabers figures to be back on the field and healthy in 2026 after missing nearly his second pro season with a torn ACL. Nabers, one of the NFL’s most exciting young receivers, seems more than open to the idea of sharing a locker room with Beckham.
“Let’s play together!” Nabers commented on one of Beckham’s social media posts.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart also added fuel to the fire. He and Beckham expressed mutual admiration in social media interactions. Beckham himself commented on the prospect of catching passes from Dart.
“That sounds great,” Beckham said at the flag football event. “If that opportunity presents itself, I would love to do that, be excited about that. He’s a good dude. He’s young, he likes to dance, I like all that. So he looks like he likes to have fun.”
It helps Beckham’s cause to still have a relationship with Harbaugh, too. Even though it has been three years since the two worked together in Baltimore, they remain in contact and, again, met in-person at this week’s league meeting.
“If Odell’s an option, then we’ll be looking at it, for sure,” Harbaugh said Monday. “He and I do talk. We do text. We’ve maintained a really great relationship. He’s one of my very favorite people in the world. It’s not like you don’t talk to guys about things like that, and certainly we have. We’ll just have to see where it all goes, what’s best for him, what’s best for the Giants.”
What it would take to bring Beckham back
Initial discussions are complete, so if mutual interest remains, the next step towards a reunion would likely be for the Giants to bring Beckham in for a workout. If he is not in NFL shape and if his skills deteriorated over the last year away from football, then the whole idea is a non-starter. General manager Joe Schoen effectively said as much.
“Typically, if it’s not one of these higher-paid guys, coming off a season where — we’re not going to work out Isaiah Likely or somebody — but somebody that hasn’t played,” Schoen said. “In this instance, you’re talking about Odell hasn’t played in a year. You’d certainly want to see him work out.”
Beckham would then need to show he is willing to play on a modest contract. The Giants, and any other team for that matter, are not going to shell out huge sums of money for a receiver whose best days are behind him and who has not caught more than nine passes in a season since 2023.
The veteran minimum for a player with Beckham’s experience is $1.3 million. That is a reasonable price tag for someone with his résumé of late. It would be the smallest contract of Beckham’s career, according to Over The Cap. He has never signed for less than $2 million, and even then, he ended up earning $4.75 million that year.
Beckham is not the only player interested in Giants reunion
If the Giants really want to get the band back together, they could look even further back into their history for a linebacker who supposedly wants to play a 17th NFL season. Jason Pierre-Paul, who last played in New York in 2017 and has not spent a full season on any roster since 2022, made his availability known on Tuesday.
Considering he spent the majority of the last three years on practice squads, Pierre-Paul would be highly unlikely to serve in a meaningful role. The two-time Super Bowl champion could be a mentor, however, for young edge rusher Abdul Carter and the rest of the defensive front. And in a pinch, maybe he is still capable of eating a few snaps.