Odell Beckham Jr. back to Giants? John Harbaugh says it's possible
Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
PHOENIX — John Harbaugh called Odell Beckham Jr. “one of my very favorite people in the world” and said he has spoken to the wide receiver about a potential future with the Giants.
“The obvious pat answer is you look at every option and if Odell is an option then we’ll be looking at him for sure,” Harbaugh said at the NFC coaches breakfast on Monday at the NFL’s annual meetings. “He and I do talk and text and maintain a really great relationship. It’s not like you don’t talk to guys about things like that. Certainly we have.”
Beckham, who has not played in the NFL since a short stint with the Dolphins in 2024, has hinted at a desire to return to the league. He participated in last week’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic and said he hoped that would be a “starting point” for a comeback. He even mentioned the Giants, the team that drafted him in 2014, as a possible landing spot.
“That sounds great," Beckham told Kay Adams at the event when she asked about him playing with Jaxson Dart. “If that opportunity presents itself, I would love to do that. Be excited about that. He's a good dude. He's young, and he likes to dance. I like all that. So he looks like he likes to have fun. If I get that opportunity.”
Beckham, 33, played for the Giants from 2014 until he was traded to the Browns in 2019. He won a Super Bowl with the Rams in 2021 and played for the Ravens in 2023, which is where he met Harbaugh. In that season in Baltimore he played 14 games and caught three touchdowns, his last truly productive stint in the league.
Harbaugh wasn’t making any promises about a potential reunion, though.
“We just have to see where it all goes, what is best for him, what is best for the Giants,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the number one thing is what is best for our team with any player. If he helps you be a better team and can make you better then you are going to pursue that. We’ll just have to see where that goes.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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