Odell Beckham Jr. had a huge impact on the Rams after signing with Los Angeles last year, stepping up in place of the injured Robert Woods. He scored seven touchdowns in 12 games, including the first score in Super Bowl LVI.
Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in the Super Bowl and will now miss an extended period of time – which is even worse considering he’ll be a free agent this month. According to Ian Rapoport, the expectation is that Beckham will be ready to play at the beginning of November, which means he’d miss about half the season – a similar timeline to the one Les Snead projected this week.
Rapoport also reported that there’s mutual interest between the Rams and Beckham when it comes to a new contract.
“Odell Beckham Jr. is another key (free agent) and before he tore his ACL in the Super Bowl, certainly looked like he would be in the conversation for Super Bowl MVP,” Rapoport said. “That’s how well he was clicking. Of course, had that injury, had successful surgery and the Rams do want him back and there is mutual interest there. But his timeline makes it a little bit complicated. ACLs are generally 6-9 months. It sounds like Odell is probably more toward the later end of that. I am told the expectation is for him to be ready and able to play by the beginning of November. That means for a team that signs him, potentially the Los Angeles Rams, he would go on the PUP list, would practice three weeks before and then end up playing in November – which is not a great sign, but the other part of it is he arrived late for the Rams, too, and was a huge, huge contributor down the stretch.”
From our NFL Combine coverage: #Rams WR Odell Beckham Jr is a priority for the team as it tries to run it back. With Beckham expected back in early November, 2022 could feature a repeat of his contributions in 2021. pic.twitter.com/sQR2ZqTiMr
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 4, 2022
The Rams already have three quality starters in Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson and Woods. However, as we saw this season and in past years, depth at wide receivers is critical. Woods and Kupp have both missed significant time, and if not for the addition of Beckham, the Rams may not have won the Super Bowl.
Bringing him back to join Kupp and Woods as the top three receivers would be a major win for the offense, even if he does miss the first half of the season. He showed in his 12 games with the Rams that he’s still a dynamic receiver who simply creates big plays for his quarterback.
