National Football League

Jerry Jones: Cowboys will only sign OBJ if 'it will improve this team now'

Updated Dec. 6, 2022 6:39 p.m. ET

Odell Beckham Jr. has told people that he's looking for a "home." He's not interested in a "prove it" deal for the rest of this season. He wants a commitment from his new team — and apparently a big one — for at least this year and next.

From his standpoint, that's completely understandable.

From the standpoint of the teams pursuing him, though, it doesn't make any sense at all.

For the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Buffalo Bills — not to mention any of the other teams rumored to be lurking in the background of the Beckham Chase — this all has to be about this year, and this year only. It has to be about finding that missing piece, that one offensive weapon, that can put them over the top. Maybe it's for a run at the Super Bowl. Maybe it's just for a shot at the playoffs.

But either way, signing Odell Beckham cannot be about 2023.

Jay Glazer discuss which team has the best shot at signing Odell Beckham Jr.

That's almost certainly why nobody has thrown bags of money at Beckham's feet yet. As FOX Sports has reported multiple times, there is "considerable doubt," according to multiple sources, that Beckham will be able to play at all this year. The rosy and optimistic picture his camp has painted for the media clashes with the reality that Beckham is a 30-year-old receiver, 10 months removed from tearing his left ACL for the second time in a year-and-a-half.

Even Jerry Jones — the man everyone expects might be the one most willing to overpay for whatever is left in Beckham's body — has seemingly come around to that reality. After months of the Cowboys organization drooling at the thought of adding Beckham, and after a full-court press that began on Monday and included courtside seats to the Mavericks-Suns game for Beckham and Cowboys defenders Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs, the Cowboys owner didn't sound like he was ready to open his vault during a radio interview on Tuesday morning.

In fact, he made it pretty clear he believes that if Beckham can't help the Cowboys this year, there's no point in signing him at all.

"If this thing works out, it will improve this team now," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "It will improve it this year. If we don't have that, then we're in a positive situation as well. It has to improve us now.

"And you know, that's a pretty tall order."

Indeed it is, and not just because the Cowboys are rolling and have seemingly found a second receiver with Michael Gallup (28 catches, 297 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games) starting to look more and more like himself. It's a tall order because of all that doubt about whether Beckham can play. He's been happy to accept fancy dinners and courtside seats on his week-long recruiting trip, but Beckham declined to work out for any of the three interested teams. He was examined by all the teams' doctors, but it's hard to give him the $20 million per year he's told teams he's looking for without seeing him even once on the field.

And then there's this: Even Beckham has privately acknowledged the doubts about his ability to help much over the final five weeks of the regular season and privately into the playoffs. He's not sure exactly when he can play or how much he'll be able to play, according to one person who has spoken to him recently. And it sure sounds like he expressed those same doubts to Jones on Monday. Because when he was asked if Beckham actually believes he can play this season, the Cowboys owner took a long pause before he pointedly didn't say "Yes."

"I would say, I'm going to kind of keep that one at bay," Jones said.

That's a huge warning flag, considering Jones also said "Make no mistake about it: (The) medical (evaluation) is big." Another red flag was Beckham's unwillingness to work out, to prove that he's ready. When asked if he could be confident in an investment in Beckham without seeing him on the field, Jones ominously replied "Well, I'm not confident at all."

"That's the issue," he said. "We have to come in with our eyes wide open and it has to be addressed and that's when you see if you can make a deal or not."

Cutting to the chase, Jones was asked point-blank if any deal with Beckham would be off the table if the Cowboys weren't sure he could play this year, Jones said "That's harsh right there, but this year's paramount."

Emmanuel Acho, Joy Taylor, LeSean McCoy and David Helman debate on whether the Cowboys need OBJ to get to a Super Bowl or not.

Really, it's the same for the Giants and Bills, and even for the Vikings, Ravens or Chiefs, if any of them ever actually get involved. Five of them would be signing Beckham in the hopes he could duplicate what he did last year, when he caught 21 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns in 3½ games in the playoffs and helped the Los Angeles Rams win the Super Bowl. The Giants actually need more than that, since they might need a vintage Beckham performance just to hold onto their NFC wild-card spot over the final month.

Is it worth it to guarantee Beckham some money and years after that if he really can boost their chances this season? For most of those teams, the answer is probably yes. But without the component of this year, next year is absolutely meaningless. Beckham is not a future player. He's a now player. If a team is looking to build up their receiving corps for next season, the last thing they should be doing is committing any kind of money to a 30-year-old receiver with a twice-repaired left knee — not when so many good, fast receivers come out in every NFL draft.

Waiting until next year would actually benefit Beckham, too. He could get in a few more months of rehab, and even an old and damaged receiver like him might look good compared to next year's free agent class. It's a group led by the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jakobi Meyers. Even Darius Slayton, whom the Giants couldn't give away over the summer, will probably be one of the five best receivers available in March.

So yeah, Beckham might find his "home" and his money then. Maybe it'll be with one of the teams he's already visited.

But right now, no team should consider the kind of long-term financial commitment Beckham apparently wants if they aren't absolutely sure they can get a good month or two out of him right now. The Giants might be able to make the playoffs without him. The Cowboys and Bills are probably good enough to get to the Super Bowl without him too. A healthy, vintage Beckham would absolutely enhance the chances of those teams. He'd absolutely be worth the money.

It would just be a big waste of resources for all of them, though, if that healthy, vintage Beckham won't be ready until 2023.

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Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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