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Yesterday Odell Beckham Jr. officially became a free agent and can sign with any team he chooses to. Now Beckham has said that he’s looking to sign with a contender and it’s been reported this morning that he’s narrowed his choices down to three teams. Beckham is interested in signing with the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers or Kansas City Chiefs. Now he’d be a good fit for any of those three teams who could all use help at the wide receiver position in one way or another, but let’s go through it and see where he might fit the best.

If Beckham was to sign with New Orleans he’d look like the best wide receiver on the team. Saints running back actually leads the team in receptions and targets. Kamara has 32 receptions and has been targeted 44 times. Marquez Calloway is the top wide receiver with 22 receptions, but he is just one receptions ahead of Deonte Harris who has 21 receptions. Calloway has been targeted 39 times while Harris has been targeted 31 times. Adding Beckham to this receiving group that also welcomed back Tre’Quan Smith from injury and brought back Kenny Stills would make it a respectful group of pass catchers, but there could still be some issues if Beckham signs with the Saints.

You have to factor in that Drew Brees is no longer the Saints quarterback and Jameis Winston is done for the season due to injury. That would make it the responsibility of either Taysom Hill or Trevor Siemian to get the football to Beckham. Hill has only played in 6 games this season due to injury and while he did return to the line up last week against the Atlanta Falcons he only threw two passes as it was Siemian who started at quarterback. Siemian was the Denver Broncos starting quarterback for the 2016 and 2017 seasons and went 13-11 in his 24 starts for them. Since being the Broncos starter Siemian has made two starts at quarterback and appeared in just three games. Here’s where the problem may be. Beckham has a big personality and if Brees or Winston where the Saints quarterback that might not be an issues, but with the inexperience of Hill and Siemian you have to wonder if Beckham would just run them over personality wise.

Now the one thing that could even this all out is if Saints head coach Sean Payton could control Beckham, but so far there hasn’t been a coach that’s been able to. Now Peyton would be the best coach that Beckham has ever played for and that should help the situation, but you just never know how Beckham will react to anything let alone an inexperienced quarterback not getting him the football as much as he wants it.

Now if Beckham was to sign with Green Bay he wouldn’t have the added pressure of coming in and being expected to be the #1 receiver on the team. It’s clear that Davante Adams is the Packers top receiver, but Beckham would slot in right behind him bumping Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard down one spot on the depth chart.

If the Packers could add Beckham it would help make up for the loss of tight end Robert Tonyan who’s out for the remainder of the season due to injury. It would also give the Packers one of the deepest receiving cores in the National Football League.

There would be no issue with the quarterback in Green Bay as Aaron Rodgers is one of if not the best quarterback in the NFL, but their might still be a couple of questions if Beckham chooses the Packers.

Rodgers himself has brought a lot of drama to Green Bay this season and he’s had his ups and downs with head coach Matt LaFleur. Is it possible that Beckham would get caught up in the drama that surrounds Rodgers and have it negatively affect not only his play, but the team. As for LaFleur; he’s in his 3rd season as the Packers head coach and has a fantastic 33-8 won loss record; so he might still be considered a little inexperienced, but he’s been a winner. LaFleur has shown that he’s been able to handle the drama around Rodgers and hasn’t really been drawn into any of it. You’d have to think that would bode well if Green Bay ends up being Beckham’s eventual landing spot.

Now if Beckham signs with the Chiefs he’d again probably be the second best wide receiver on the team, but he’d also probably be the third target in the passing game. Tyrek Hill is undoubtedly Kansas City’s #1 wide receiver, but Travis Kelce is still he NFL’s best tight end and gets a lot of targets in this offense. Beckham would move ahead of Mecole Hardman as the #2 wide receiver in Kansas City, but there’s only one football in play at a time. Would Beckham get enough targets to keep him satisfied?

Kansas City would be a place where there shouldn’t be an issue with the quarterback or the head coach. Even though they’re having a bit of a down year so far Patrick Mahomes is still one of the best quarterback in the NFL and head coach Andy Reid is in his 9th season as Chiefs head coach and has a record of 96-41 since being hired by the Chiefs. Don’t forget that the Chiefs have played in the past two Super Bowl winning the title in 2019 before dropping last years game. So Beckham would definitely be coming into a winning culture even though they’ve been a little down through nine games this season.

Kansas City still has ne of the best offenses in the NFL and there’s no reason that shouldn’t continue with or without Beckham. The biggest question if Beckham where to join the Chiefs would probably be would he get enough targets to keep him happy. With Hill getting over 11 targets a game and Kelce getting almost 9 targets a game that wouldn’t leave very many passes to be thrown Beckham’s way. Would Beckham be happy in what might be a lesser role with a team like Kansas City?

So we’ve looked at Beckham’s side and what team he might fit in best with, but what about the teams side of this? What kind of player are they getting if they sign Beckham. Well let’s see what we’ve got there.

At one point Beckham was the best wide receiver in football, but that was back when he was a member of the New York Giants. Since being traded to the Cleveland Browns things haven’t been the same.

After putting up two 1000 plus yard seasons his first two seasons with Cleveland an injury limited Beckham to just 7 games in 2020. This season Beckham was getting a little just a little over 5 1/2 targets a game in the 6 games he played with Cleveland. Beckham had just 17 receptions for 232 yards and he doesn’t have a touchdown. Remember Beckham used to score touchdowns with regularity. He’s reached double digits in touchdowns three times in his career, but the last time he scored that many touchdowns was in 2016.

Beckham just turned 29 years old five dats ago and he is in his 8th NFL season. Beckham has had a couple of injuries in his career; so maybe that has affected his play or it’s possible that the much ballyhooed move to Cleveland was just a bad fit for him. Beckham will be a free agent after this season and if he intends on asking for a big money contract he’ll have to produce for whatever team he decides to sign with.

So let me know; where do you see Beckham signing? Will it be with one of the three teams that where reported this morning? Or is it possible that a “sleeper” team jumps in at the last minute and signs him?

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