Free agent WR Odell Beckham Jr. is set to begin his visits with the NFL teams this week that are in the hunt for his services. After visiting first with the New York Giants, Beckham is set to visit the Cowboys next Monday, December 5th.
For what seems like an eternity, the Cowboys have been on their public recruiting campaign to sway Odell Beckham Jr. to come to Dallas. On Monday, Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy reiterated the teams' interest in Beckham, noting that the team is moving “full steam ahead” with hopes to get a deal done.
In all honesty, the Cowboys do not need Beckham — but they should do everything they can to sign him.
Despite being 30 years old and coming off his second ACL tear, Beckham proved to the NFL that he is still an elite wide receiver, when last year he helped elevate the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl and was on his way to being the Super Bowl MVP before being injured in the second quarter.
The Cowboys need a wide receiver, and they have needed one since they chose to trade WR Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for a fifth-round pick. The issue isn't that the Cowboys traded Cooper, it was the fact that they did nothing to replace the talent that Cooper has. The Cowboys tried making some moves at the wide receiver position by drafting WR Jalen Tolbert in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft and signed WR James Washington, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Neither of those options has worked out particularly well for the Cowboys.
For a team that hasn't made splashy moves in free agency in quite some time, this whole recruiting campaign for Odell Beckham Jr. has been incredibly exciting for Cowboys Nation. We have seen Cowboys players such as Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, Michael Gallup, and even CeeDee Lamb speak publicly about their support for Beckham to join the team. You'll not often find locker room leaders openly embracing a free agent.
Regardless of CeeDee Lamb being second in the NFC in receiving yards, the Cowboys are going to need more firepower as the playoffs approach. Since Dak Prescott's return in week 7, there has been multiple instances of miscommunication between Prescott and his receivers that have lead to interceptions, receivers dropping balls and even struggling to get open against higher-skilled defensive backs. We know the level of competition the Cowboys will be up against in January and having an elite route runner and playmaker such as Odell Beckham Jr. could make the Cowboys unstoppable.
Repeating history?
Last year, the Los Angeles Rams went out and signed QB Matthew Stafford, DE Von Miller, and WR Odell Beckham Jr. to help them win a Super Bowl. The year before that, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went out and signed QB Tom Brady and TE Rob Gronkowski to help them win the Super Bowl. You can go back even further to see that each team that has won the Super Bowl in recent memory, went out and added a valuable piece via a trade or free agency.
Can the Cowboys follow history, and potentially reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995 by signing Odell Beckham Jr.? Could Beckham be the missing piece to this team to help put them over the edge? Only time will tell, as all eyes will be on the Cowboys on December 5th when Beckham arrives at The Star.
