Many have bemoaned the fact that the New York Giants traded wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. not even a year after signing him to a six-year contract extension, but former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason thinks there was a reason for it.
Esiason told Ryan Dunleavy of NJ Advance Media that he thinks Beckham essentially quit on the Giants after signing a new deal.
“Odell took himself off the field last year for four games after making $19 million,” Esiason said “That takes a lot of chestnuts.”
Esiason is referring to Beckham missing the final four games of the regular season due to a quad injury, and as Dan Benton of Giants Wire points out, during Beckham's final appearance back in Week 13 of 2018, he stood and watched the Chicago Bears recovered an onside kick.
“I don’t know what the issue was with Odell and why he didn’t want to play for the Giants anymore, because I do believe that was the case,” Esiason continued. “But I know for Pat Shurmur and Dave Gettleman, dealing with that kind of corrosive personality toward them makes it very difficult to do their job. And that’s why they were trying to get rid of some of those guys in the locker room and bring some other guys in that were going to be more team-oriented and not so focused on their own numbers.”
It's blatantly obvious that the Giants traded Beckham because they no longer wanted to deal with him in the locker room, as Beckham had become a distraction, particularly while talking to the media.
Of course, whether or not Beckham actually quit on New York will never be known for sure, but Esiason isn't the only person who has questioned the wide out's effort with Big Blue.
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