The Cleveland Browns didn’t miss out on bringing back Odell Beckham Jr.

Former Cleveland Browns’ receiver Odell Beckham is returning to the AFC North.

The Cleveland Browns will once again have to deal with Odell Beckham as the former All-Pro receiver is returning to the AFC North, but this time with the Baltimore Ravens. The former Pro Bowler with the New York Giants sat out all of 2022 and is returning to the league with the Ravens on a stupidly-big contract.

Beckham will make $15 million on his one-year deal with the Ravens and could end up seeing his contract hit $18 million if he hits all the right stats. The Browns were a team that was interested in bringing Beckham back, and it was a move that I wholly supported, for the right price.

Beckham is not an easy person to get along with, and his attitude has hindered more teams than not, but considering this team is just one bad game away from imploding, you’re going to go all out to make sure you can at least get one Super Bowl. So yeah, you’d want a guy like Beckham, because if he’s healthy and not washed up, he could be the game-changing receiver you need. Those are big if’s, by the way.

So it’s good the Browns didn’t land him, specifically at that price point.

The Cleveland Browns got lucky by not landing Odell Beckham

If Beckahm signed for less than $5 million and the Browns lost out on getting him, then this would be a different situation. With someone with his upside, coming in on a low-money contract, you should take a gamble on him. Even if he is a disruption.

If this were a different team, with different values and different leaders, sure, you pass on Beckham. But this is a team that has looked past bad deeds before for guys like Kareem Hunt, Malik McDowell, Deshaun Watson, and others. So worrying about a player’s fit within the locker room now doesn’t make sense.

But Beckham isn’t worth $15 million a year. That’s elite money for elite talent and he hasn’t looked elite since 2016. Plus, add on Lamar Jackson’s issues throwing and the fact he may not even be there heading into the 2023 season, and this move has a far likelier chance of hurting the Ravens than helping them.