Ravens, Odell Beckham Jr. playing it safe as WR eases into offense
The Baltimore Ravens are cautiously easing priced free-agent signing Odell Beckham Jr. into the fold as the team works through the minicamp portion of its offseason workout program.
The 30-year-old wideout hasn’t played a down since tearing his ACL after hauling in a 35-yard reception in the second quarter of Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, 2022. Though Beckham Jr. has had more than a season to rehab and recover, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh says he’s not rushing anything when it comes to Beckham Jr. playing with no restrictions.
"He's going to be full-go in terms of health and all that, but I also expect us to ramp up a lot of our guys," Harbaugh told reporters on Tuesday, via NFL.com. "We're not going to be in a hurry to throw guys out there too much, (with) too many reps. So, I think we'll kind of be a see as we go. (He'll) go through individual (drills), take a few reps in group (drills) and team and see how he and the other guys feel and go from there."
Though Beckham Jr. has full clearance from the doctors, he’s expected to have a light workload during minicamp this week. The three-time Pro Bowler didn’t disclose whether his knee is 100 percent yet, but he admitted that for the first time since his injury that there’s no discomfort when he runs.
"It feels good to get out of bed and not feel pain,” Beckham Jr. said. “It feels good to feel like if I needed to take off running right now, I could take off running. It's been a long journey this time around, and it was a long process. So I just have to take that for what it was.”
The Ravens signed Beckham Jr. to a one-year, $15 million deal before the draft. It could be worth up to $18 million if he meets certain incentives.
The former first-round pick is three full years removed from his last season with 1,000 or more yards and 70 or more receptions, but Baltimore is banking on him returning to his 2014-18 form when he totaled 390 receptions, 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns with the New York Giants.
Beckham Jr. is expected to be the No. 1 receiver in a revamped Ravens WR room that also includes 2021 first-round pick Rashod Bateman, 2023 first-round pick Zay Flowers and free-agent addition Nelson Agholor.
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