Odell Beckham Jr. is tied to the New York Giants for the next six years after signing his mega-extension which makes him the highest-paid wide receiver in the league. But there was a time in the not-too-distant past when his future in New York was very much in doubt.
The Giants were reportedly open to trading away the star wideout around the time when a video which appeared to show OBJ in bed with a woman in Paris with suspected drugs.
And according to Seth Wickersham of ESPN, that led one NFL team with possible interest in dealing for Beckham to hire a private investigator to get to the bottom of Beckham’s potential drug use.
“In the spring, when the Giants were listening to trade inquiries — the (Los Angeles) Rams and (San Francisco) 49ers were the two teams reported to be interested, but there were others — one curious club hired a private investigator to track Beckham. The Paris video had introduced drug-use rumors that teams wanted to run down, even if recreational drug use falls below his surgically repaired ankle on most teams’ list of concerns.
“The PI’s report set off no alarms, but despite the Giants being ’50-50′ on their willingness to trade him, according to a league source with knowledge of the situation, no team would meet their asking price, which was believed to be a pair of first-rounders.”
Those sorts of secretive fact-finding missions are probably more common than people realize. Acquiring a star like Beckham is a serious investment, and teams would be wise to do their due diligence on him before pulling the trigger on any blockbuster move.
Luckily, nothing ultimately came of that investigation, which most likely means Beckham is clean. And after agreeing on that massive deal, OBJ and the Giants can now move on and put all of that drama behind them.
