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Many in and around the NFL find it very interesting that just as Odell Beckham Jr. started making the rounds, visiting teams like the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones decided to let everyone know the wideout still isn’t healthy.
Jones said during his appearance on 105.3 The Fan this week that he isn’t confident about signing Beckham due to his health.
“I’m not confident at all. And, so, that’s the issue,” Jones said. “Now, we all realize that issue of health, that issue of availability is here every time. Just this one is very obvious and very pointed toward his injury that occurred last year in the Super Bowl. We got a good bead on that.”
Later that day, it was reported that Beckham’s injury “has not progressed enough to ensure he would play before mid-January and possibility exists signing him would have no benefit until [the] 2023 season.”
Interestingly, OBJ disputed that report, claiming his injury is not as serious as Jerry Jones and the Cowboys are making it sound.
I’m told Odell Beckham Jr is still on his visit with the #Cowboys, per league source.
Separately, sources close to Beckham Jr. tell me he feels able to contribute to the playoffs this season, especially after getting in with a team & acclimating consistently over several weeks.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 6, 2022
So, why would Jones basically torpedo Beckham’s chances of getting looks from teams before the season ends? Isn’t it obvious? It is to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.
“He visited the Giants and the Bills. There were no leaks about their medical examination of Beckham, who suffered a torn ACL in February,” Florio writes. “Then came the Cowboys. Then came the leaks.”
He then states the obvious that the report that OBJ probably isn’t healthy enough to play this year certainly didn’t come from the wide receiver’s camp. It had to come from the Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
It only came from the Cowboys. And it’s obvious that the Cowboys wanted it out there.
At one point, it appeared that the Cowboys possibly were going through the motions with Beckham in order to get the Giants to pay more. Now, it looks as if the Cowboys are trying to get Beckham to take less — or, more specifically, to not insist on a contract that extends beyond 2022. They also may be trying, as one league source has opined, to placate players and fans who had been clamoring for the Cowboys to sign Beckham.
The source called the team’s decision to leak negative information about Beckham’s knee “astounding.” There was even a suggestion that Beckham, who recently sued Nike for breach of contract, should sue the Cowboys for violating his medical privacy rights.
“How could he even consider signing there now?” Florio’s source asked.
So if Florio is right and Jerry Jones and the Cowboys really are trying to poison the water for any other team showing interest in signing Beckham, they may have just killed their own chances of doing so in the process.