Browns: Odell Beckham’s departure has affected ex-teammates differently

The Browns have finally sent Odell Beckham home, dividing the locker room.

Athletes lie, and they do it all the time. They’re beyond insincere so much that it’s impossible to know when someone is telling the truth during an interview and when someone is just toeing the company line. The Browns find themselves in a similar situation, as teammates are split over the release of embattled receiver Odell Beckham Jr, and us the fans not knowing who to believe.

Not since Nate Shelly in season two of Ted Lasso has someone betrayed a group of men so profoundly. Yet, here we are, with Beckham now gone from the Browns after finalizing a buyout with Cleveland and heading to the waiver wire, where he’ll likely not go claimed.

The feeling in Berea is that this was a failed experiment and rightfully so. Yet, the narrative being spun by those at EPSN, like Jake Trotter, is that Beckham wasn’t a bad teammate and Baker Mayfield just didn’t play well with him. That’s all.

Is it though? Regardless, the team is divided on how everything went down. Some felt Beckham was misused, others were glad to see him go.

Browns safety John Johnson told reporters that a “majority of the locker room wanted him back.

"I feel like the majority of this locker room would love to have him in this building — flat-out."

Trotter writes that a source close to Mayfield said that Beckham and Mayfield were friends.

"The craziest part of this whole situation is that they’re friends. Maybe it wasn’t perfect. But it was never strained."

Even Myles Garrett told Trotter and reporters that this whole thing got out of control and that shouldn’t have happened.

"For it to spiral out of control like this, I feel like it shouldn’t have gone this far. But now, I don’t make those decisions. At the end of the day, we’ve got to come together as a team and surround ourselves with the people in this building and move forward. At the end of the day, nobody’s going to stop and wait for us to pick up the pieces."

Browns teammates were clearly done with Odell Beckham, however

Now you won’t have any sound clips of Nick Chubb saying anything bad about anyone, probably ever. That’s just who he is in front of the media. Bill Belichick, Tim Duncan, Russell Wilson, that’s just who some of these guys are. Just because guys like Chubb won’t say anything about Beckham out loud,  doesn’t mean that he and others aren’t thinking it.

It’s the game the media and fans forced players into. Tell the truth and be crucified or be politically correct and be reprimanded publically for not supporting your teammates. These guys can’t win, so that’s why some of them go off the record to get the truth out. Allegedly.

One Browns player gave Mike Garafolo of H/T a quote and flat out stated that Beckham was a problem in the locker room.

"He does nothing. He talks to no one. He’s just got a malcontent attitude."

This is backed up by Johnsons’ own words, that most of the locker room wanted Beckham back. Most isn’t all, and it’s not even a majority. We’re talking a minimum of only 50.1% at worst wanted him back. That’s assuming that Johnson isn’t being hyperbolic.

As Trotter writes, Mayfield himself was blown away that Beckham’s father released the video, seemingly with his son’s approval; who never denounced the video.

"I was pretty surprised by the video and the intentions and the feelings behind it. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. I thought we had a very open line of communication."

So clearly, Beckham was in fact a problem. This isn’t new, his own teammates in New York loved seeing him go. It’s no different here in Cleveland, either. Now that he’s gone, the Browns can see if you can in fact have an addition by subtraction situation.

Mayfield has actually played rather well, it just hasn’t translated to stats due to inconsistencies with the receivers. Now with Beckham gone, we can see if Mayfield can start putting up the stats that so many fans apparently need to see in order to justify keeping him around.

For me, he’s done enough to warrant a contract extension and now that Beckham is finally gone, Mayfield and the Browns could very well get right back into the fight.