DALLAS — Three-time Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham has visited three NFL teams over the past week, but none more high profile than the Dallas Cowboys.
Beckham, who arrived in Frisco on Monday, was later seen at a Dallas Mavericks game with courtside seats as he took in the game with his possible future teammates.
Cowboys owner, president, and general manager Jerry Jones told "Shan & RJ" on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday that the meetings with Beckham will continue. Even though Beckham hit it off great with the Jones family, there are still elements to evaluate for both sides.
"These things, there’s a lot of variables, a lot of variables here, a lot of things to consider," Jones said. "It’s got to fit, and I mean that. It really does have to fit for both parties. There’s no gain if one or the other, the Cowboys or Odell, doesn’t have it where it feels good after you get it done. You can’t do anything that doesn’t last because this is like getting married. You’re not getting together to have issues after you get together. So, we’ve got to make sure we cover all the things that are important to him and important to us.”
Just as high profile as Beckham's meeting with the Cowboys is, his injury that has kept him off an NFL roster through the first 13 weeks of the season looms as large. Beckham tore his ACL during the Super Bowl, as he helped the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium.
Jones stated that he was "not confident at all" signing a player coming off such an injury, even nine to 10 months removed, and that was the crux of adding Beckham.
Said Jones: "Now, we all realize that issue of health, that issue of availability is here every time. Just this one is very obvious and very pointed toward his injury that occurred [earlier this year] in the Super Bowl. We got a good bead on that. We got a great read on his career. It’s not like a draft picking coming at you. You got a lot of history here and you can take a good look at, not only the obvious and that’s his performance, but also any issues regarding health. So, all of this we got to come in with our eyes wide open and it has to be addressed, and that’s when you can see if you can make a deal or not.”
The Cowboys have had success with a receiver coming off an ACL injury late in the 2021 campaign with Michael Gallup. The former 2018 third-rounder has caught 28 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns through nine games.
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