Do the Saints have room for Odell Beckham Jr.?

Yes, the New Orleans Saints have room for Odell Beckham Jr.

The Saints have completely remodeled their receiver room from last season. Marquez Callaway, Tre’Quan Smith, and Deonte Harty headlined the Saints’ top three receivers. They also had “contribution” from Kenny Stills, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Chris Hogan, Easop Winston, and Kevin White, as well as Ty Montgomery.

How would Odell Beckham Jr. fit in with this loaded receiver room? First off, Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry do a lot of things well and can be interchangeable every snap. Chris Olave will get his because of his diverse skill set, speed and route running. That is three solid receivers already with Callaway, Harty, and Smith available as well. So, the answer to where he would fit in is easy. The Saints’ system over the past two decades hasn’t changed and it won’t change this season as well. The Saints’ offensive units roll out like hockey lines, different packages, and formations for different players. Adding another receiver to the mix only makes their packages that much more lethal.

Will there be enough snaps to go around with all this talent at the position? Let’s take a look at the Rams receiver room (who are interested in re-signing OBJ at the right price). The Rams have 2 ball-dominant elite veteran receivers in Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson, with a young up-and-coming Van Jefferson as well. Sound familiar? Saints are in the same situation. Let’s talk about how the Saints could make this work. Last season, in a historically bad Saints offense Callaway led the receiver room in snaps with 833, Smith had 520, Harty 298, Ty Montgomery 300, Kenny Stills 274, Lil’Jordan Humphrey 216. Hogan, Winston, and White also combined for 134 snaps. Even with one of the worst cores the Saints have had in years they still found ways to use different packages while being extremely limited. Finding packages for Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram, Taysom Hill, Adam Trautman, Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, Jarvis Landry and potentially Odell Beckham Jr. will be an easy task for the Saints offensive staff. One snap you can have Thomas at X, Olave at Z, and Taysom Hill at Y with Kamara in the backfield, and the next you can bring at Thomas, Landry, and Beckham with Ingram in the backfield in 11 formation. The possibilities are endless and nothing unfamiliar for the Saints staff.

The bigger question now is can the Saints pull off the recruiting pitch this time around to land OBJ? He has made it clear he would want to return to the Los Angeles Rams, but they are yet to offer him anything substantial. The deal OBJ would get would certainly be smaller or similar to Jarvis Landry's deal, small base salary with high incentives. Beckham would start the season on the PUP list so the Saints also wouldn't have to create a roster spot for him until he’s ready.

He also hasn't hidden his excitement to go home and reunite with his best friend Jarvis Landry either. Like Landry and Mathieu, New Orleans is home for OBJ, and joining the Saints is something he’s sold on. He nearly joined them last year but it took one of the most dysfunctional offenses to scare him away. With all the excitement around the Saints, it would simply take a respectful offer to OBJ for him to return home as well. Landry has preached about the culture and championship roster the Saints have and this is something that would be very attractive to OBJ as well knowing he won’t be able to play for the start of the season.

Jarvis Landry has done his best to try and convince the Saints and Dennis Allen to bring in OBJ. The Saints should feel more than comfortable about their receiver room but in the National Football League you always add more talent when you can. Jarvis said “I’m trying my best. First of all, I wish my brother a happy recovery, but I am trying my best” when asked if he’s trying to convince the Saints to bring in OBJ.

The excitement around the 2022 Saints is sky high and only will go up with bringing home another Louisiana kid.

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