Odell Beckham Jr. free agency: Rams COO Kevin Demoff optimistic team can get deal done with veteran WR

The defending champion Rams made two recent splashes with the re-signings of stars Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp. Los Angeles’ title defense may also include the re-signing of Odell Beckham Jr., who last season helped the franchise win its first title in 22 years. 

Rams COO Kevin Demoff has publicly expressed interest in re-signing Beckham, who played an integral role in the Rams’ Super Bowl run after joining the team during the season. 

“Am I optimistic that we can get a deal done over time? Yes,” Demoff recently told The Athletic. “We would love to have him back. We would welcome him back with open arms tomorrow, even after he crashed Sean’s wedding, which was enjoyable and great to see him there. … If you crash the head coach’s wedding and he’s still willing to re-sign you, that’s a good sign.” 

Demoff feels that Beckham’s timeline following his torn ACL injury, which occurred during the Rams’ Super Bowl win over the Bengals, is one of the reasons why the former Pro Bowl receiver is still unsigned. Given the fact that Beckham will likely not be ready to play by the start of the season, Demoff thinks there is probably not a sense of urgency from Beckham, the Rams, and possibly other teams with regard to getting a deal done. 

The salary cap is another reason why the Rams haven’t already re-signed Beckham. If there was no salary cap, Demoff said the Rams could have signed Beckham months ago. 

“Ultimately, when you’re in a resource allocation, when you know a player who would probably come in and help you, maybe for the last few weeks but really in the playoffs, your focus right now has to go on those who are going to be here for training camp, start the season for you,” Demoff said. “And then, how much can you leave for a player of Odell’s caliber. … Is it a multi-year deal? Is it a one-year deal? All kinds of variables that come into Odell. The one variable that hasn’t changed is how much we love him and want him to be here.” 

Demoff lauded Beckham’s contributions to the Rams’ championship season, calling him a “huge piece” of Los Angeles’ title run. Beckham, who caught seven touchdowns in 12 games with the Rams last season, filed a huge void in the offense after Robert Woods (who is now with the Titans) went down with an injury shortly after the team acquired Beckham. 

“The Super Bowl, obviously, he was playing so well, on pace to be MVP,” Demoff said. “You forget in the NFC Championship Game, I think he had 10 catches, 100-plus yards, some big, big catches and was a key piece of what we did throughout the playoffs. I think everybody would love to have Odell the player back, Odell the person back. … He was a great asset for us.”

Demoff’s comments to The Athletic came after Kupp publicly lobbied for the Beckham’s return. And despite Beckham crashing his wedding, McVay also recently expressed hope in Beckham coming back for the 2022 season. 

“We would love to have Odell back,” McVay said. “It’s one of the reasons really why we ended up pursuing Allen Robinson the way we did. I thought it was such a big deal. We all know the year Cooper Kupp had. I love Van Jefferson. He’s a really good player that’s only going to continue to get better. But then when you bring Odell into the mix last year, I thought he did a great job of really when you’ve got two guys on opposite sides of the formation based on how they want to change the math on the back end, when you’ve got a guy in a lot of these three-by-ones that can come to life and be automatic for some of those backside isolations, I thought that’s where Odell really allowed us to see how big a part of our offense that’s got to be based on the landscape of the league and some of the ways people are trying to defend you.

“He was a baller. Want to try to be able to get him back. Would love to work with him every single day.”