Odell Beckham Jr. appears to be headed back to the NFC East.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told USA Today's Jarrett Bell that he expects Beckham to join the team, with the deal potentially to become official after Dallas' Sunday contest against the Jaguars.
The contract would be expected to run through the rest of the season, with the idea being that Beckham would play for Dallas during the playoffs.
"Odell's going to join us," Jones told Bell. "There's a good chance he will, with the complete goal of getting ready for a playoff game or two, and then I'll look to the future. But most of it being about now."
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It had been speculated that the Cowboys might be out on Beckham, and even that he might not sign at all. After Beckham's visit to Dallas, it was leaked that the team had concerns over the health of his knee and was unsure whether he'd be ready to play by mid-January. The leak appeared to show both disinterest by Dallas and brought to question whether Beckham might shun Dallas for the leak of medical information.
A few days later, when the Cowboys signed T.Y. Hilton, that began to further fuel speculation that Beckham would no longer be in the picture for the Cowboys. Jones never fully ruled out Beckham signing with the team. When asked whether he would shut the door on Beckham to Dallas, Jones said that he wouldn't, so long as it included the playoffs.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported that team executives were beginning to wonder whether Beckham would choose instead to sit out for the rest of the year to heal up and be the prime target for the 2023 free-agency class.
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Now, it appears the ongoing Beckham saga has reached its conclusion. Jones told USA Today that Beckham has been working out and that "he's extraordinary," and said he wants to have Beckham play in important games and "have some Deion Sanders-type results."
"Could this be possible to have a great player like that get in two or three playoff games and make some significant plays?" Jones said. "I think very much so. That's not an exaggerated thought at all."
Beckham joining Dallas would make a great team somehow even better. At 10-3, the Cowboys need only a win over the Jaguars on Sunday to officially clinch a spot in the playoffs. Heading into Week 15, The Sporting News' model gives the Cowboys a 21.2 percent chance of winning the NFC, trailing only the Eagles (44.5 percent).
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And in joining Dallas, Beckham would give the Cowboys yet another standout weapon on offense. CeeDee Lamb leads the team with 74 catches for 961 yards and six touchdowns, and Noah Brown has emerged as a threat as well with 34 catches for 484 yards and a touchdown. Michael Gallup has the fourth-most receptions (30) and receiving yards (337) on the team, with three touchdown grabs.
Add to that group Beckham and Hilton, who last year had 23 catches for 331 yards and three touchdowns in nine games for the Colts, and this receiving room starts to look like one of the best in the league. Last year, between the Browns and Rams, Beckham caught 44 passes for 537 yards and five touchdowns in 14 games during the regular season and added 21 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns in four playoff games en route to helping Los Angeles win the Super Bowl.
