Baltimore Ravens

Lamar Jackson welcomes Odell Beckham Jr. to Ravens over FaceTime

Updated Apr. 10, 2023 5:29 p.m. ET

Lamar Jackson posted a screenshot of his FaceTime call with Odell Beckham Jr. on Sunday shortly after news spread that the Baltimore Ravens reached a one-year agreement with the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.

Beckham responded to the post saying, "SHEEEEESH."

After a year-plus of free agency, Beckham confirmed that he was headed to Baltimore in an Instagram post Sunday evening that featured his son wearing Jackson's No. 8 jersey. Whether the two ultimately play together is uncertain, as Jackson remains in a contract dispute with the team and has requested a trade.

Beckham and Jackson were spotted at a Miami club celebrating after the receiver signed.

Beckham's reported deal includes a $13.835 million signing bonus, $1.165 million base salary and another $3 million in incentives. That would total $18 million if he reaches all the incentives. It was previously reported that Beckham was seeking a one-year, $15 million deal.

That kind of cash was shocking to many, including Skip Bayless. He explained why on Monday's "Undisputed."

"This is the kind of deal you get on the opening day of free agency when you're not sure what's out there, and you just plunge, ‘We gotta get Odell for Lamar!’ That was a long time ago. The market settled, it cooled, it started to reveal itself. I don't know that anybody else was even in the ballpark of giving Odell Beckham Jr. $15 million guaranteed. Are you kidding? … I thought Odell was gonna have to go somewhere on a make-good contract that maybe in the end — with a lot of impossible-to-attain incentives — might've gotten him close to $18 million."

"This has put the ball back in Lamar's court," Bayless added. "If I'm Lamar, I sit back this morning and say, ‘Wait a second. … You can pay me $32 [million]. You just gave him [Beckham] half of what I might get?’ I wouldn't love that."

Shannon Sharpe was on the same page, though not as shocked as his cohost and for slightly different reasons.

"I'm a little surprised, but I do understand that you do over-pay in free agency because you want the guy," Sharpe said. "Baltimore is not a hotbed where receivers want to come given the type of offense that [the Ravens] run. … I'm a little surprised given the uncertainty at the quarterback position. … I'm surprised he was able to get that much, but I don't really know what choice the Ravens have considering I can't remember the last time they had a 1,000-yard receiver."

"I don’t know how far this is gonna go to get Lamar back … but the Ravens are trying," Sharpe added.

Odell Beckham Jr. agrees to deal with Ravens

Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe react to OBJ signing with Baltimore.

Beckham will join starters Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay in a thin wide receiver room in Baltimore that also includes Nelson Agholor — a fellow free-agent addition — James Proche II and Tylan Wallace.

Beckham, 30, last played in 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he won Super Bowl LVI. Beckham began his career with the New York Giants, where he was one of the NFL's best receivers over his first three seasons. He was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2019 and released during the 2021 season, after which he signed with the Rams.

Beckham sat out the entire 2022 season to rehab a torn ACL, his second in as many seasons. He has played in only 25 total games the past three seasons, with just 1,144 receiving yards over that stretch.

In his eight-year NFL career, Beckham has 531 career receptions, 7,367 receiving yards and 57 touchdowns.

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