Odell Beckham reports to Giants minicamp but here's why he won't practice with the team
Odell Beckham Jr. is in the building. The Giants' wide receiver joined his teammates Tuesday for the start of voluntary workouts where he is expected to take part in the walkthrough, though not practice itself, because he is still recovering from a season-ending ankle injury that limited him to just four games in 2017.
Coach Shurmur: Odell is going through his rehab to get fully cleared. He was involved in this mornings walk-through. #NYGiants — New York Giants (@Giants) April 24, 2018
Beckham's rehab appears to be coming along; On Monday, he posted a video to Instagram that showed him pulling a Denali down the street.
Beckham showed up earlier this month for the Giants' voluntary offseason workout program, though CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported at the time that Beckham was showing up for a medical check but was still looking for a new contract.
Beckham is one of the NFL's most dynamic players, and while he's set to make $8.5 million next season, he's looking to more than double his salary. As it stands, the Steelers' Antonio Brown leads all wide receivers, earning $17 million annually, and Beckham wants his compensation to reflect his value. The Giants have said they want to keep the mercurial pass catcher, and owner John Mara said last month that the team isn't shopping Beckham -- but he added this: "When you're coming off a season where you're 3-13 and played as poorly as we played, I wouldn't say anyone's untouchable."
Last week, general manager Dave Gettleman also didn't fully commit to Beckham being on the roster in 2018.
"I'm not going to say," Gettleman said, via NJ.com. "He's on our team, he's a valued member of our football team."
But it's certainly a show a good faith that Beckham is with the team, even if he's not yet 100 percent. There had been speculation that the Giants might trade Beckham -- though that talk died down after the Rams acquired Brandin Cooks from the Patriots -- but here's our unsolicited advice for how the Giants should proceed.
-- Re-sign Beckham for Antonio Brown money. (Is he worth it? In a word: no -- but he has the potential to be. And the offense is substantially better with him a part of it.)
-- Draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick. There has been speculation that the Giants could take running back Saquon Barkley or defensive end Bradley Chubb. But they should draft a quarterback -- whether it's Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen or Baker Mayfield will in part be determined by what the Browns do with the top pick -- and groom him to replace Eli Manning.
-- Replace Eli Manning ... after the 2018 season.
-- Follow the blueprint laid out by the Eagles and Rams: Take advantage of a franchise quarterback still on his rookie deal and use the extra cap space to build a playoff team around him. Philadelphia won the Super Bowl last season and Los Angeles is gearing up to do the same in 2018. Manning has a cap hit of $22.2 million in '18 and $23.3 million in '19. With needs up and down the roster, the Giants could certainly find uses for that money.
But first things first: Getting Beckham healthy. In the meantime, new coach Pat Shurmur seems unconcerned about his star player.