On March 12, the New York Giants announced that they have agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns, according to ESPN . Star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will now be making his way to Cleveland. The Cleveland Browns will be trading their first-round draft pick in 2019, which is the 17th overall pick, as well as their second third-round pick this year, which is the 95th overall pick, and safety Jabrill Peppers to the New York Giants.
Last year, Beckham, who is now 26-years-old, completed a five-year contract with the New York Giants that totaled $98.5 million. Signing that contract with the Giants promoted Beckham to the spot of the highest-earning receiver in the NFL. The agreement also seemed to indicate that Beckham would be staying with the Giants for the long haul. However, now we know that wasn’t the case.
“Wow,” Beckham reportedly said, when he heard about the news, according to ESPN .
Initially, the Giants had not planned to shop around for trades with Beckham while they were planning for next season. However, they were willing to hear out what other teams might have to offer, and there were several teams that were interested in trying to trade for Beckham to acquire him for next year. The two teams that showed the most interest in trading for Beckham were the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers.
“We didn’t sign Odell to trade him. OK?” New York Giants’ general manager Dave Gettleman said last month, according to ESPN, in an attempt to quiet down the trading rumors.
BREAKING NEWS: The @Browns have traded for @obj ! Browns Fans, how excited are you right now? pic.twitter.com/cGUteLyw9n
— @Q92Sports (@Q92Sports) March 13, 2019
Perhaps what made the New York Giants consider a potential trade as time went on was the terrible season that the team had this past year, right after they signed Beckham to the contract that made him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. The Giants finished 5-11, and Beckham participated in a number of incidents that angered his team. So, the Giants paid out $21.5 million for 12 games and decided to move him. The team also needed to pay another $16 million in dead money due to their deal with Beckham.
Beckham seems to have gotten some wind about the trade before it happened. Jarvis Landry, a receiver on the Browns, called Beckham and told him that his general manager, John Dorsey, and his coach, Freddie Kitchens, both badly wanted Beckham to come to the Browns. After the call with Landry, Beckham got the call from the Giants’ general manager, Dave Gettleman, informing Beckham that he had been traded to the Browns.
