Odell Beckham Jr. set to play first game since 2024

When the New York Giants kick off their 2026 preseason schedule on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings, they are going to have a new, yet familiar, face in their lineup.

Head coach John Harbaugh confirmed on Wednesday that wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will be in the lineup as he attempts to make the 2026 roster and return to the NFL for the first time since the 2024 season. 

Odell Beckham Jr. will play for Giants on Saturday

When we last saw Beckham in an NFL uniform, it was as a member of the Miami Dolphins during the 2024 season, when he appeared in only nine games and caught just nine passes for 55 yards. 

He was released in December of that season and was then suspended for six games in 2025 for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

After not landing with a team for the duration of the season, he re-joined the Giants this offseason trying to prove that he still has something to offer.

He was a first-round draft pick by the Giants in 2014, spending the first five years of his career with the team before being traded to the Cleveland Browns before the 2019 season.

He has since played for the Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens (under Harbaugh) and the Dolphins.

While he last played in the NFL in 2024, it has been far longer since he was actually an effective wide receiver. He has caught more than 30 passes just one time since 2019, and that was only 44 passes during the 2021 season, which he split between the Rams and Browns. 

Injuries have been an issue, and now there is the simple reality that he is 33 years old (and will turn 34 during the season) and easily in the decline phase of his career.

The Giants have a superstar No. 1 wide receiver in Malik Nabers, but have put together a patchwork group of players behind him in an effort to get some production out of the position. Along with Beckham, the Giants have also brought in Calvin Austin, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darnell Mooney to try and find somebody who can provide some depth at the position. It remains to be seen if any of them will stick or offer what the Giants want and need. 

Saturday will be their first chance to prove something.