Odell Beckham Jr.'s Giants Return Comes With Plenty of Questions

Odell Beckham Jr. watched Sunday’s World Cup final at his once and future NFL home digs amid scores of luminaries from sports, stage and screen.

The New York Giants wide receiver hopes to inspire pandemonium, not absorb it, during his forthcoming visits to what again can be called MetLife Stadium. Until then, Beckham Jr. is drawing attention for behavior beyond football as his Giants reunion begins.

Welcome back to real life, if not reality.

In June, OBJ signed a one-year, veteran minimum contract with New York that’s worth up to $1.3 million, per reports. A few weeks later, he discussed the hypotheticals of earning much more, delivering an opinion that made him look disjointed and entitled.

Again, welcome back to – well, you know.

During an appearance on the Pivot podcast, Beckham said that a five-year, $100 million NFL contract – a sum now well beyond the 33-year-old’s grasp – isn’t enough money.

Said Beckham: “It’s five years for $60 million; you’re getting taxed.”

He then asserted that his own spending habits, roughly $4 million per year, would spare him a measly $40 million. Then there’s the matter of taking care of friends and family.

“Can you make that last forever?” Beckham said.

Apparently, you can stretch a fraction of that sum to catch the conclusion of Spain’s dominant run to a world soccer title, anyway.

Beckham posted about his Sunday-afternoon whereabouts on Instagram, including a photo of him alongside Giants quarterback Jaxon Dart. The duo certainly looked cool, with OBJ showing the swagger of the youngster who earned AP Offensive Rookie of the Year with New York in 2014 while collecting 5,476 receiving yards and 44 touchdown receptions over his first five seasons with Big Blue.

To what extent Beckham can channel that production in his second stint remains to be seen. For all the flash he brings and the many feel-good voyages down Memory Lane his signing provided, Beckham shouldn’t project as a lynchpin as the John Harbaugh Era dawns.

OBJ played in only nine games with the Miami Dolphins in 2024, finishing with nine catches for 55 yards before he received a six-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He sat out the 2025 season and hasn’t caught a touchdown pass since Week 14 in 2023, when he played for the Baltimore Ravens.

New York brought Beckham back while adding a slew of fellow veteran wideouts – including Darnell Mooney, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Braxton Berrios and Calvin Austin – to a receiver room that lost Wan’Dale Robinson to free agency (Tennessee) and is navigating numerous offseason injuries.

In May, Gunner Olszewski suffered a torn Achilles during OTAs. Darius Slayton had core-muscle surgery in the spring but continues to recover and was among the 80,000-plus at MetLife for Spain-Argentina.

Malik Nabers, meanwhile, appears on track to return after tearing his ACL in Week 4 of last season following a standout rookie year.

The Giants hope at least one of their veterans can slide into a starting role to augment their budding youngsters.

While OBJ’s output isn’t the proverbial money in the bank of a decade ago, you can bet his pursuit of a second chance in New York will net plenty of chatter.

He’s due back at MetLife in a little under one month; the Giants host the Minnesota Vikings in their preseason opener on Aug. 15.