Two years later: Who won the Odell Beckham Jr. trade?

On this day two years ago, the Cleveland Browns acquired Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants

Two years ago, the Cleveland Browns made a trade with the New York Giants that led to Odell Beckham Jr. becoming a Cleveland Brown. In that trade, the Browns gave up a first- and third-round pick as well as safety Jabrill Peppers.

At the time, Beckham was seen as one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. With Baker Mayfield coming off of his great rookie season, the expectations for Mayfield, Beckham, and the rest of the Browns’ offense were sky-high.

Although Beckham put up good numbers for the Browns in his first season, the expectations were so high, Beckham’s approval rating began to sink when he and Mayfield failed to be the best quarterback-wide out duo in the NFL.

OBJ is one of the most polarizing players in the NFL. You either love him or want the Browns to trade him now. With that in mind, let’s take an objective look at who won the 2019 trade and if the Browns are better off having Beckham on their team.

First, let’s look at what the Browns gave up to get Beckham to Cleveland. They sent Jabrill Peppers, a first-round pick (17th overall) and a third-round pick (95th overall).

Before the Browns traded Peppers, he had a great second season in the NFL. He was beginning to become a big part of the Browns’ young core on defense alongside Denzel Ward, Joe Schobert, and Myles Garrett.

Peppers seemed to decline a bit after his sophomore season. Now, in New York, he has had two okay seasons. He serves as a middle-of-the-pack safety in the NFL today, but he has yet to return to the level of his last season in Cleveland.

With the 17th pick, the Giants selected Dexter Lawrence, he has become the best player that the Giants received in the trade. He holds the middle of their defensive line together and has a very balanced attack against the run and the pass. Lawrence looks like he is going to be a good interior defensive lineman for years to come.

Lastly, with the 95th overall pick, the Giants took Oshane Ximines. He has been a capable role player for them at times. In 2020, Ximines only appeared in four games before he had season-ending surgery.

Now, the question is who got the better end of the deal? On one end you have a starting safety, a good defensive tackle, and a defensive role player; and the other end is Odell Beckham Jr.

Through two seasons, it seems like the Giants have the slight edge in this trade because they got three players who can contribute in significant ways, the Browns only have one. Beckham has also not lived up to the hype that surrounded him when the Browns traded for him.

But, the most important part of this evaluation is that Beckham’s value in Cleveland has far from reached its ceiling. In Beckham’s first two seasons in Cleveland, he had two rookie head coaches. Under Kitchens, the team would consistently fall apart or fail to get going at all. Under Stefanski, the Browns offense looked a lot better, but it took some time for it to work. Before the Browns became one of the top offenses in the league, Beckham tore his ACL.

We have yet to see Beckham and Mayfield together in a good offense. If that happens next season, it is very reasonable to believe that the Browns won the trade. But as we stand right now the Giants are the winners of the Odell Beckham trade.