Odell Beckham Jr.’s contract details prove Cowboys played WR market perfectly

For months, it felt like Odell Beckham Jr. would wind up on the Dallas Cowboys. Fans will recall the team — led by Jerry Jones — jumping through recruiting hoops to lure the free agent receiver to Dallas during the 2022 season.

The pitch included a tour of the facility and Trevon Diggs and Micah Parsons treating Beckham to courtside seats at a Mavericks game.

Ever since the Cowboys acquired Brandin Cooks, though, their interest in Beckham dissolved. In the subsequent weeks, it seemed inevitable Beckham was going to team up with Aaron Rodgers on the Jets.

Beckham was set to visit Florham Park Monday, but that’s no longer happening after he signed with the Ravens late Sunday.

The news shocked just about everyone … until the terms of Beckham’s contract were disclosed, which made everything crystal clear. The former Pro Bowler got a one-year deal worth up to $18 million from Baltimore. It carries $15 million in guaranteed money (!) with an attainable $3 million in incentives.

Odell Beckham Jr.’s Ravens contract proves Cowboys made right call

In short, this is a massive gamble by the Ravens. Was it made to increase the likelihood of Lamar Jackson returning? Most likely, but that doesn’t mean giving $15 million guaranteed to a player who hasn’t logged a full season since 2019 isn’t a huge roll of the dice. But enough about Baltimore.

Their gamble just punctuates the fact the Cowboys played the receiver market perfectly and made the right call trading for Cooks, who’ll earn $12 million guaranteed from the Cowboys after Houston agreed to pay $6 million of his salary.

That’s a $3 million difference in guaranteed money and a potential $6 million difference in total earnings, and you can argue Cooks is the superior — and more reliable — player of the two former 2014 first-round picks. It’s worth noting, too, that Dallas has Cooks under contract for $8 million next season.

That brings us to Beckham’s injury history.

Entering his age-31 season, Beckham has a torn hamstring, an ankle fracture and two separate ACL tears to the same knee on his ledger.

Again, the Ravens are desperate, but Beckham hasn’t averaged more than 65 yards per game since 2018. It’s been four years since his last 1,000-yard season. Even still, Beckham’s 1,035 yards that season would’ve ranked 18th in the NFL last year among wideouts. That’s WR2 production, and the Ravens are paying him to transform their passing game alongside Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews.

Cooks, meanwhile, cracked 1,000 yards in both 2020 and ’21 and hasn’t missed more than five games in a season since his rookie year.

We would’ve taken Beckham on the Cowboys, but the price had to be perfect given his recent injury history.

To say Dallas is better off with Cooks for $12 million and two late-round picks is a huge understatement, and the front office deserves its flowers for pivoting to Cooks instead of getting into a bidding war for Beckham — one they likely would’ve lost given how much dough the Ravens coughed up.

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