Jerry Jones Addresses Cowboys-OBJ Fit

With the Rams’ lead in the Odell Beckham Jr. sweepstakes looking to have slipped, this appears to be a more wide-open market. The star wideout’s second straight midseason free agency bid is now believed to include the Bills, Cowboys, Packers and Giants. Other teams have been connected to the eight-year veteran, but Beckham named those four in a recent interview.

The Cowboys pursued Brandin Cooks, Jerry Jeudy and other wide receivers before the trade deadline, discussing the former with the Texans up until the end of 2022 trading. No deal emerged, keeping the door open for Beckham, who has said he is a “huge fan” of Mike McCarthy‘s. Jerry Jones did nothing to suppress any OBJ-to-Dallas rumors Tuesday.

“Odell is someone that we have all the appreciation in the world for what he is as a competitor,” Jones said during his latest 105.3 The Fan segment (via The Athletic’s Jon Machota, on Twitter). “I know the Cowboys star on that helmet when he puts it on could look pretty good.”

Despite coming off a stretch of two ACL tears in 15 months, Beckham is believed to be seeking a multiyear deal rather than another one-year pact that would provide a springboard into free agency. Had Beckham, 30, not suffered his latest tear in Super Bowl LVI, he would have commanded a lucrative deal on this year’s market. The injury has created another post-deadline frenzy. This one figures to involve more cash compared to OBJ’s one-year, $1.25MM Rams deal, which featured a collected $3MM incentive package.

“We should be aware that he’s coming off this injury, but showed he can do it and do it well last year,” Jones said. “So that would go in the mix real good. His past dealing with adversity of injury rehab, I think that tells you a lot.

“I think a veteran player, such as Odell, my experience has been when we’ve brought a veteran player in, they hit the ground running in terms of being able to compete. That usually is not a big favor when we think about whether or not a player can fit. … I think that you’re looking at a player that his experience far outweighs any of that ambiguity involved in how he’s going to fit in your system.”

Dallas re-signed Michael Gallup on a five-year, $57.5MM deal this offseason but has not seen its No. 2 wideout fully recapture his pre-ACL-tear form. Adding a player in the final stages of a similar process would be interesting for the Cowboys, but they do not have other good outside options here. Cooks and the Texans are believed to be recommitting for at least this season’s remainder; Houston sought second- and fourth-round picks for Beckham’s draft classmate. The Cowboys joined the Rams and the rest of the interested parties in balking at that price, with Cooks’ $18MM 2023 guarantee too rich for the NFC East squad’s blood. The Broncos were seeking at least a second-round pick for Jeudy; it does not appear the Cowboys offered that.

Big offers clearly have not come in for Beckham, who expressed disappointment with the Rams’ proposal. While Sean McVay said the defending champions had not made their best offer, their surprising offensive struggles leading to a 3-5 record may make them a lesser threat compared to the 2021 sweepstakes. Green Bay, which joined Dallas in pursuing multiple wideouts (Chase Claypool, D.J. Moore) at the deadline, being 3-6 also could interfere with a Beckham agreement. Aaron Rodgers‘ year-to-year status affected Davante Adams‘ plans; it would not surprise if Beckham considered that as well.

The Cowboys saw Amari Cooper help their 2018 edition go from 3-5 to the divisional round. Beckham showed last season he can make a quick impact; he is coming off a 288-yard, two-touchdown postseason. As OBJ moves closer to being full-go, the Cowboys will likely be in the mix until the end of these sweepstakes. It will be interesting to see what kind of deals are being proposed, as this is one of the more complicated free agency derbies in recent memory.