The Cleveland Browns parted ways with veteran wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Friday. While this does sound promising, there is a process that needs to happen for the Saints to even get an opportunity to get Odell into a Saints uniform.
The first step is passing the waiver wires. Since Odell is being released/waived post-trade deadline he is put on the waiver wire and teams have an opportunity to put in claims for him, and if they claim him they also get his massive contract.
Odell was due $7.25M for the rest of the 2021 season and if a team claims him off waivers, they would have to pay for his contract, which is a two year contract. As of this morning though, the Browns and Odell discussed a new contract structure that would reduce his base salary as low as around $1M, per source. All of this isn’t done, both sides must agree, but possibly Browns eat much of remaining $7.25M and a team inherits vet minimum salary off waivers. Now it’s a lot easier for teams to put in a waiver claim and get him for a low price, like the Lions who have first dibs in the waiver wire.
With his contract prior to the restructure it was very possible for Odell to go unclaimed through the waiver wire, but now it’s not looking so good for the Saints if that contract gets restructured.
If he goes unclaimed, he is then an unrestricted free agent and can sign wherever he pleases and receives offers. This is when the Saints likely get aggressive and go after Odell, as we all know they tried to trade for him prior to the deadline.
Now if he does go unclaimed, the Saints will need to clear some space. They have just about $1M in cap space, and an eight year NFL veteran (like Odell) minimum guaranteed salary is $1.075M, and that’s if Odell even agrees to a contract like that which likely doesn’t happen. The Saints probably have to restructure some contracts of guys like Ryan Ramczyk, possibly Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore to make some space to sign Odell to a team friendly deal.
This whole process will take a few days to go down. Monday we will know if he went unclaimed off the waiver wire. There’s nothing left to do except hope for the best.
Written By Kadin Janisch
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