Cleveland Browns: 3 moves to make now that Odell Beckham saga is over
By Greg Newland
The Cleveland Browns have finally cut ties with Odell Beckham, Jr. While it was a messy ending, the organization now needs to move on quickly.
After days of knowing the end was near, Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns have officially moved on from Odell Beckham Jr. The drama started on Tuesday when his father posted a video to YouTube showing Baker Mayfield missing his son open in routes on multiple plays.
The week continued with the Browns excusing OBJ from practice, and multiple reports from inside the locker room. One report shared that Beckham had checked out, while others stood up and supported OBJ like Greg Newsome and John Johnson.
In the end, the story is now over, and this is going to end one of two ways.
One; the Browns rally together and become better from this. We saw the offense was better without Beckham in 2020, so possibly the same thing happens again. If the Browns can get a win in Cincinnati on Sunday, everything they want is still in front of them.
Two; the locker room can tear down the middle and this season can collapse very quickly. You will start seeing anonymous reports of players who are unhappy, Kevin Stefanski will quickly lose control and this season could spiral to a disappointing six or seven wins. At that point, there would be some serious conversations on rebuilding the veteran presence on the team.
In the end, OBJ moving on was likely best for both sides. For whatever reason, it just wasn’t going to work in Cleveland. However, he did it the wrong way. For three years I would argue he was never once a distraction and a great teammate even though the production wasn’t there. But his father posting that video instead of OBJ talking to the organization was completely wrong.
It’s time to move on, the Cleveland Browns organization and fans need to not loom on this no matter how good or bad OBJ is with his next team. Below are the three next moves the Browns should make after cutting ties.