National Football League

Odell Beckham vs. Rams: Who holds more leverage?

Published Oct. 13, 2022 5:03 p.m. ET

Odell Beckham Jr. is in the midst of a paradox. The three-time Pro Bowler is a free agent coming off a scintillating playoff run. He's also coming off another major injury that will sideline him until at least November.

That's left him unsigned and upset that he's not garnering the offers he probably would have received had he not blown out his ACL in the Super Bowl. His frustration culminated in an interesting exchange with his former employer Wednesday, with Beckham tweeting he deserves a better off from the Rams, and coach Sean McVay noting the club hasn't made its final offer.

On Thursday's episode of "Undisputed," Skip Bayless asserted that Beckham's tweet initially gave the Rams leverage in contract talks, but that McVay's comments gave the leverage right back to the star wideout. Shannon Sharpe sees Beckham's conundrum quite a bit differently.

"OBJ, bro, this is not a charity – you have a torn ACL," Sharpe said. "Had the Rams drafted him and he has this, OK – a la Michael Gallup [with the Cowboys], a la Chris Godwin [with the Buccaneers], there's a tie there. … OBJ, this is your third team. They didn't draft you, so they don't have the same loyalty, the same allegiance as those teams had to those guys. I think you understand that."

Colin Cowherd weighed in as well, called Beckham the "Airbnb" of receivers.

"You don't want to own him, nothing long term, but it is a nice house and I'd like to stay in it briefly," Cowherd joked on "The Herd." "That's what he is, he's a rent-a-wide-receiver."

That might be how Beckham currently feels, if his tweet Wednesday is any indication. He's broadcast himself visiting with multiple teams recently, but reiterated the Rams are with whom his heart is.

"LA knows where I want to be … but they didn’t offer me…. ANYthing! So idk what people want me to do. I def kno my worth and what the offer was isn’t reflective of that. So it’s tough to say that I can come on back even tho I thought I finally found that home!"

Soon after, Rams coach Sean McVay offered Beckham some assurance that the team is still interested in bringing him back.

"I love Odell," McVay told reporters Wednesday. "We have constant dialogue. He also knows that certainly I don't think that's the last [offer] that would come from us. I'm not familiar with what it is. He knows how we feel about him. We've got a little bit of time.

"But [I] love Odell. Nothing but good things coming from me."

Beckham, of course, proved to be a pivotal part of the Rams' title run. In the postseason alone, he had 21 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns before tearing his ACL in the second quarter of the Super Bowl. It was his second ACL tear in less than 16 months. While there's obvious risk involved, L.A. might feel compelled to bring him back given its offensive struggles through five games.

The 2-3 Rams rank 18th in the league in passing, while Allen Robinson, who replaced Beckham as the team's No. 2 receiver, has only 12 receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown.

"The bottom line is if Allen Robinson wasn't what appears to be an inefficient player, I'm not saying bust, but they paid a lot of money for him, if Allen Robinson is what we thought he would be, they wouldn't be interested in Odell Beckham," Cowherd said. "He's 30. He's coming off the injury, so you really can't depend on him physically. He needs a lot of attention. He is talented, but again, he's 30 coming off knee surgeries."