Kansas City Chiefs Should Kick the Tires on Odell Beckham Jr.

The Kansas City Chiefs should be targeting free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

The Chiefs are without their top wideout Rashee Rice due to a six-game suspension, and rookie Xavier Worthy left Friday night’s matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil with an injury. If Worthy’s setback is serious, Kansas City could be in trouble.

Beckham was spotted dapping up Travis Kelce on the field before Friday night’s game. maybe a bit of foreshadowing? Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes could certainly use some help in what’s shaping up to be a much-improved AFC West.

Before his trade to the Cleveland Browns, Beckham was on a Hall of Fame trajectory, topping 1,300 receiving yards in each of his first three NFL seasons. But his last 1,000-yard campaign came back in 2019, when Freddie Kitchens was his head coach and Baker Mayfield was his quarterback. A lot has changed since then.

What hasn’t changed is that Mahomes and Andy Reid can still make deep playoff runs together—but they’ll need reinforcements.

After sitting out the 2022 season, Beckham played in 14 games with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, recording 35 catches for 565 yards and three touchdowns. Last year, he suited up in just nine games for the Miami Dolphins, finishing with nine receptions for 55 yards and no scores.

Despite the steep dip in production, Beckham is only 33 years old. He’s not ancient, and he has expressed interest in returning to the NFL this season, hinting that he may be close to signing somewhere soon.

Kansas City wouldn’t need Beckham to be Superman. Or even Robin. The Chiefs already have Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who played only two games last season and hasn’t shown much left in the tank. They also rely on JuJu Smith-Schuster, which in itself should be reason enough to at least kick the tires on OBJ.

When things are going well, Beckham has shown he can be a good teammate. He thrived catching passes from Matthew Stafford and helped the Los Angeles Rams win a Super Bowl. He was a serviceable veteran alongside Lamar Jackson in Baltimore.

Sure, Kansas City could continue to develop a younger receiver like Tyquan Thornton. But he couldn’t even stick with the New England Patriots. Beckham, at the very least, would be a fun, low-risk addition for the league’s best quarterback and coach.