Odell Beckham Jr. is excited about the possibility of playing alongside Lamar Jackson. But upon signing with the Ravens, he doesn't know for sure that he will.
Beckham said during his introductory press conference that while he has faith that the 2019 NFL MVP will re-sign with Baltimore, he doesn't know for sure that it will happen.
"I didn't get any assurances for anything," Beckham said. "It just was excited about the possibility of that. My thoughts would be that he would be here. I know that [GM Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh] want him to be here and at the end of the day, that's going to be up to them."
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When Beckham signed with the Ravens, Jackson posted on Instagram a screenshot of a FaceTime call between the receiver and quarterback. Not long after, a report came out from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport that Jackson had recruited Beckham to Baltimore with the understanding that the QB throwing Beckham passes would "probably be Lamar."
During the press conference, Beckham said Jackson "seemed excited" on their call about the possibility of the two teaming up to play together.
"Lamar, I know if you're watching, I would love to get to work with you. I'll talk to these guys over here and hopefully that gets done," Beckham said. "When you think about the Ravens, you definitely think about Lamar and I know that that's something I was excited about, that possibility."
DeCosta said he has not spoken with Jackson since the Beckham signing, but maintained the team's position that Jackson "is in our plans." He did say that since Jackson requested a trade, the two sides have spoken further.
The hope remains that the team and Jackson will agree to a long-term deal, DeCosta said.
"It’s been as you all know, a very long process, but a lot of times the best things in life take a long time," DeCosta said. "And I go back to [Beckham], it took a long time to get him here, we started last year and we finally got him. And so these things take time, they take a lot of work and they take a lot of patience and we’ll continue to work to do what we can to field the very best possible team come September to win a championship, which is our ultimate goal.”
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Beckham immediately arrives in Baltimore appearing to be the best wide receiver with the Ravens since Jackson became the quarterback. The Ravens have had only one 1,000-yard wide receiver since 2018, when Jackson took over, and that was Marquise Brown in 2021 at 1,008, according to Stathead. The next closest campaign by a wideout was Brown's 769-yard season in 2020.
The Ravens are paying Beckham to be the star receiver the team has lacked in recent years as they inked him to a one-year, $18 million contract with $15 million guaranteed. Whether that's the receiver they have is another story. Beckham tore his ACL in Super Bowl 56, the second time he has sustained the injury, and missed all of the 2022 season. He'll be heading into his age-30 season. Since 2019, he has combined for just 67 catches and 856 yards.
Beckham has still shown glimpses of the star receiver from his Giants' days. Before he was injured in the Super Bowl, he caught two passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. The round before, he had nine catches for 113 yards against the 49ers in the NFC Championship.
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It's hard not to view Beckham as a major upgrade in the Ravens' offense. And if Jackson does return to the team and Beckham finds his old form again, a Ravens squad that has underwhelmed the past two seasons could be a major contender in the AFC.
"Lamar, I hope that it all works out for you and it gets done. If I could hand it over to you, I’d hand it over to you, but that’s outside my payroll," Beckham said. "So I’m just excited about it. I can’t wait for the opportunity.”
