Knee Jerk Reactions Ravens Sign Odell Beckham Jr

On Sunday evening, Odell Beckham Jr. announced that he was joining the Baltimore Ravens, posting a picture of his young son in a Ravens jersey and hat on his Instagram page. (The jersey, we should note, was a Lamar Jackson jersey.)

Odell Beckham Jr. already recruiting @Lj_era8 to return? His kid with a No. 8 purple jersey is a nice touch 😎 pic.twitter.com/6IXlDDnKoG

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) April 9, 2023

Here are some details of the deal.

More details on Odell Beckham Jr.‘s one-year deal with the #Ravens:

$13.835 million signing bonus

$1.165 million base salary

$3M in reachable incentives

So OBJ will make at least $15 million and as much as $18M on the deal negotiated by agent Zeke Sandhu. https://t.co/z6S8tkjvP1

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 9, 2023

RSR staff react to the news here.

Darin McCann

This wasn’t the big receiver move I was hoping for, but it’s definitely a big move.

The Ravens have delivered on their promise of changing the team’s receiving room for the 2023 season — just how good that will actually look is still to be determined.

Assuming full health of Odell Beckham Jr. and Rashod Bateman, along with the addition of Nelson Agholor, the Ravens certainly look to be better on paper. But health is a very real thing, as Ravens’ fans know all too well. This should not stop the team from adding a receiver in the first two days of the draft, but this is overall a good thing. They are better now than they were in January, and this could be a top-half unit next year.

It’s a big swing by General Manager Eric DeCosta. It was definitely time to take one.

Kevin McNelis

Initially, my reaction is that I would rather have landed DeAndre Hopkins if the choice was between the two, especially at that price tag. If I had to guess, the deciding factor was that the Ravens didn’t have to give up any assets to land OBJ, and that the contract numbers are likely very heavy on incentives.

With a number like that, maybe I can hold out hope that it means Lamar has finally relented, signed a contract, and lowered the team’s cap number. What’s more likely is that there could be a corresponding cut or a Draft-day trade to accommodate, and I’m not looking forward to when the other shoe drops.

The toughest sell for me on this is the uncertainty. One of the largest obstacles for receiver depth for Baltimore has been health, and a receiver on the wrong side of 30 with an ACL tear gives me heartburn. Here’s hoping this is finally the season we see OBJ capture some of his former glory.

Rob Shields

The Easter bunny brought a late day present for Ravens fans.

This is a very interesting move. OBJ hasn’t played much the last two years but he brings a big upside and immense natural talent to a team that needed another real weapon on the outside.

My first reaction to hearing this is that this has to mean Lamar is back. It’s hard for me to believe that OBJ would come here with Tyler Huntley, Anthony Brown, Carson Wentz or whoever throwing to him.

OBJ is an ultra competitive guy that wants to win and wants his stats. Those things don’t happen if Lamar isn’t here.

Ron Toothe

All of us, myself first and foremost, have been critical of the Ravens’ approach to this off-season. It’s funny the difference one day, or one move, can make. Odell Beckham in purple and black is something fans have been dreaming about for well over a year now, and it almost feels surreal that it’s finally come to fruition. The funny thing is, while adding a name of this caliber to your receiver corps is an immediate shot in the arm for a franchise much in need of one, it may not even be the biggest takeaway from this deal.

The biggest takeaway could actually be in the form of the ever relevant Lamar Jackson situation, which now takes a major step in the right direction. I’d be hard pressed to believe that A.) Eric DeCosta would shell out this kind of money and B.) That Odell would even consider the Ravens a possibility, if there was a large amount of doubt as to whether or not #8 will be there come August. If there was even a question in Lamar’s mind as to whether he would consider a hold out or not, this move can very easily be seen as an olive branch, the team reaching across the isle and saying “We want you here, and we’re gonna surround you with talent to help you win a Super Bowl.”

While it may not be $200+ million guaranteed, it’s a heck of a first step in the right direction in a situation that’s seen nothing but backwards momentum all throughout this offseason. Of course, all of this is just conjecture at this point, and we won’t really know until we hear from Lamar himself on the matter, but at least for today the Ravens Flock should be ecstatic about what 2023-24 could possibly bring.

Chris Schisler

The Ravens have to get a lot of credit here. You just have to give Eric DeCosta a hand. With all the talk over the years that receivers didn’t want to come to Baltimore and the Lamar Jackson situation hanging over the franchise, you just didn’t see this coming. Odell Beckham Jr. is a talented receiver. The Ravens have given the fans exactly what they asked for.

Beckham Jr. comes with some concerns, and most of them are related to injury. If healthy, Beckham is a difference maker for the offense. He can give even some of the best defensive backs fits. Just look at how different the Rams offense was with him and without him when they edged out the Bengals in the Super Bowl. Beckham Jr. and Rashod Bateman can play off each other very well. You have your number one and number two wide receivers. It’s a game changer.

The Ravens now have made a major investment at wide receiver. In an offseason where we really couldn’t expect much because of the situation with the franchise quarterback the Ravens have signed two receivers. The second of which, is a big splash. I liked the Agholor deal. At that price why not. I love the Beckham Jr. signing though. This is the Ravens standing up for themselves and doing something about the problem. If Beckham Jr. stays relatively healthy and just misses a game here or there, this is a huge win for Baltimore. He’s a matchup problem for defenses.

Chad Racine

Considering the current cap situation for the Ravens as well as very limited draft capital, this was a big move. Odell is not the player he once was but, along with a healthy Bateman and Agholor the unit should be vastly improved. I’m really surprised as I was expecting him to sign with the Jets. I have to wonder if this is a tipping point that might make Lamar accept an extension. The Ravens still need to draft a receiver early in my opinion and keep taking chances. This move should also calm the fans down a little bit.

Jared Pinder

OBJ is the biggest boom or bust wide receiver signing of this cycle. If he is anything like he was before the injury this is a steal. While the 18 million reported seems high, the base is only around 13. It is also only a one year deal.

This is shocking to me. I really thought the Ravens were out of it with OBJ supposed to take a meeting with the Jets tomorrow.

Either way the Ravens did what the fans wanted: they spent money on a real receiver. While I might question if Odell is healthy enough to contribute for a full season and if this actually means Lamar is back or not, the Ravens had to be bold.

They couldn’t just go into next year without improving the weapons and now they have.

This also means that the Ravens can draft with two hands now instead of praying one receiver falls to them.

The Ravens signed a quality receiver, and that alone should help calm the fan base down a bit.

 
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