NFL Rumors: Odell Beckham Jr. Could Join Tom Brady & Buccaneers For 2021 Season, Reporter Says
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just days removed from defeating the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LV as quarterback Tom Brady further cemented his legacy with his seventh championship in a 21-year career. However, trade rumors have already started swirling around the team, with one of them suggesting that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. could be joining Brady and the rest of the Buccaneers in the lead-up to the 2021 campaign.
On Thursday’s edition of Get Up!, ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington mentioned Beckham as the next star player whom the Buccaneers could acquire as they hope for a second straight championship in 2021. As quoted by the New York Post, Darlington stressed that it would likely “take a lot” for such a deal to take place, though it does sound plausible given Brady and Beckham’s friendship.
“Keep in mind that Tom Brady did not, before the start of this season, pitch [general manager] Jason Licht on the idea of Odell coming down to [Tampa], despite the fact that those guys would like to play together at some point,” Darlington cautioned, pointing out the “caveat” that comes with a potential trade for Beckham.
The ESPN reporter added that Licht would likely make a move for Beckham in the offseason if the receiver feels that he is “more expendable” to the Browns than he was in the 2020 campaign. He also noted that while Tampa Bay is looking forward to running it back with Brady and wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and possibly Antonio Brown, it would be worth watching Beckham’s situation if “something changes” within the Buccaneers.
This isn’t the first time that a Brady/Beckham team-up has been rumored. Months after the wideout was traded by the New York Giants to the Browns in 2019, he revealed that he was aware of the reports linking him to the New England Patriots, admitting that it had “always been a dream” of his to play alongside Brady.
Last season, Beckham was limited to just seven games due to an ACL tear, finishing the year with 23 catches for 319 yards and three receiving touchdowns, per Pro Football Reference. The year prior, he had 74 catches for 1,035 yards and four touchdowns while playing all 16 games for Cleveland.
Despite how it was claimed in November that there was a “very real possibility” the three-time Pro Bowler had played his last game for the Browns right before he got injured, the team quickly denied the rumors, much as it had on several other occasions, the New York Post noted.
