Odell Beckham Jr makes Giants' 53-man roster

It's been a long road back to East Rutherford for Odell Beckham Jr, and as of this weekend, he's made it. Jordan Raanan reported Beckham is making the Giants' 53-man roster, closing out a summer where the 34-year-old had to prove, in real practices and real preseason snaps, that he still belonged on an NFL field.

Jordan Raanan

@JordanRaanan

Odell Beckham Jr. is making the Giants 53-man roster, per sources. Beckham proved he can get open + stay healthy this summer. Didn't miss a practice after full year out of the league. John Harbaugh wanted Beckham to earn his roster spot. He did.

The signs were there all week. Beckham caught 3 passes in the preseason finale, and afterward told reporters making the roster would mean everything to him. That's not the kind of thing a guy says lightly after everything he's been through to get back to a locker room.

Then came the Harbaugh line that made the rounds Saturday morning. Asked directly whether Beckham was in line to make the team, the Giants coach wouldn't announce anything formally, but he didn't hide his feelings either.

Mike Garafolo

@MikeGarafolo

#Giants coach John Harbaugh, asked last night if Odell Beckham was in line to make the team, didn’t want to announce roster spots but said, “he has done enough to make an NFL roster, for sure.” No place like home for Beckham, who is about 34 hours away from officially returning.

That quote, "he has done enough to make an NFL roster, for sure," spread fast across the league, with Schefter, Fowler and Rapoport all pushing versions of it out within hours of each other. It read as about as close to a done deal as you can get without the team actually saying the words.

There was still a hedge, though. By Saturday evening, Harbaugh and the Giants weren't ready to make it official for anyone, Beckham included, saying the team would have to see "throughout the weekend" how it shook out.

Jordan Raanan

@JordanRaanan

Giants and John Harbaugh not willing to announce anyone making the team or getting cut yet as of 3 pm on Saturday. On Odell Beckham Jr.: "We'll just have to see throughout the weekend if he makes the roster."

That weekend uncertainty is exactly why the news hit the way it did once it actually came through. Beckham hasn't played in a regular-season game since Week 14 of the 2024 season with the Dolphins, and last year cost him six games to a PED suspension before he was reinstated in November, according to NBC Sports. He signed a one-year, $1.3 million deal with New York this offseason, per Spotrac, a show-me contract for a guy who was the Giants' first-round pick back in 2014 and hadn't worn the jersey since 2018.

What made this comeback different, per Raanan, is that Beckham didn't miss a single practice all summer after a full year out of the league, and he proved he could still separate and stay on the field. Harbaugh, who also coached Beckham with the Ravens in 2023, wanted him to earn the spot rather than hand it to him. By all accounts, that's exactly what happened.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

Odell earns his spot. Very cool.

The reaction around the league backs that up. Ian Rapoport and Albert Breer both called it out as simply a good story, the kind of feel-good roster note that cuts through an otherwise brutal weekend for hundreds of players losing their jobs. For Beckham, it's a shot at rebuilding a career, and a Giants career, that once looked finished for good.