Seven years after the Giants shipped him to Cleveland, Odell Beckham Jr. is back in East Rutherford trying to make the team he once defined. New York brought him in this offseason on a veteran-minimum deal alongside JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios, and the plan was always for all three to fight it out rather than get handed anything. Beckham hasn't played meaningful snaps in nearly 2 years and has all of 9 catches for 55 yards combined over his last 2 seasons, so 'earn it' wasn't just a talking point at his introductory presser -- it was the literal assignment.
Word out of camp is that Beckham has separated himself in the fight for the roster's final WR spot.
That's what makes the report from Jordan Raanan land the way it does. Calling Beckham the 'leader in the clubhouse' for the last receiver spot isn't nothing -- it means he's currently beating out Smith-Schuster and Berrios, two guys who've been productive NFL players far more recently than he has. The Giants' depth chart already has Malik Nabers, Darnell Mooney, Darius Slayton, Calvin Austin III and rookie Malachi Fields penciled in, which leaves maybe 1 or 2 openings depending on how Nabers' recovery goes. Beckham reportedly has the inside track on one of them.
The backstory here is a lot messier than a typical camp battle. Beckham was released by Miami in December 2024 and then hit with a 6-game suspension for a failed PED test, which is the kind of baggage that usually ends careers quietly rather than sparks comeback arcs. Instead, the Giants -- the team where he built his Hall of Fame case in the first place, one-handed catch and all -- decided the reunion story and the depth need were worth a minimum-salary flier.
None of this gets settled on paper. The Giants open training camp on July 28 at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, and the wide receiver room is being billed as the most compelling storyline of the whole camp. Live reps against actual NFL corners will tell the real story -- whether Beckham still has the burst, whether Smith-Schuster's more recent production wins out, or whether Berrios' special-teams versatility becomes the tiebreaker. 'Leader in the clubhouse' is a strong sign, but it's July, and roster spots get won in August, not on a beat writer's tip sheet.
Fantasy managers are already circling this too, because a roster spot for Beckham means WR4 targets in an offense that still runs through Nabers, plus every bit of name-value speculation that comes standard with anything OBJ does. Worth remembering: making the 53-man roster and mattering on Sundays are 2 very different bars, and Beckham's 55-yard receiving total over 2 years is the more honest baseline than the highlight reel most people still have in their heads.