Green Bay Packers Won’t Claim Odell Beckham Off Waivers Due to Salary Cap

One of the big storylines from Friday was that the Cleveland Browns and Odell Beckham Jr. have parted ways. So naturally, many Green Bay Packers fans would like to see the star wide receiver come to Titletown.

Beckham’s 2020 season was cut short after seven games due to an ACL injury. This year his frustrations with quarterback Baker Mayfield had boiled over with Beckham only tallying 17 receptions and 232 yards through six games.

Ultimately, these frustrations are what led to his release.

Prior to the 2020 season, Beckham had posted at least 1,000 receiving yards in five of his first six seasons, including a three-year stretch to begin his career of at least 1,300 yards. This is the player that Beckham’s future team hopes they acquire.

So, of course, I certainly understand why so many are enticed at the idea of turning Beckham’s face mask green—he and Davante Adams would be quite the one-two punch.

However, at least through waivers, Odell Beckham won’t be joining the Green Bay Packers.

Since we are past the trade deadline, any player who is released — even veterans — must go through waivers — with priority determined by current win-loss records — and if a team claims a player, they inherit the contract as well.

Early on Friday, there was a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Cleveland could convert a large portion of Beckham’s base salary to a signing bonus, thus reducing his salary to just $1 million—making it a very team-friendly deal for whichever team inherited it.

But that isn’t what happened. Beckham still has a base salary of $7.25 million, according to Adam Schefter, which is more than the Green Bay Packers can take on without a corresponding move—and the only significant cap space creating move that the Packers have left at their disposal would be an extension for Davante Adams.

Yet without such a move, the Packers’ $4.66 million in available cap space per Over the Cap is not enough room. Whenever talking about making an addition, if you ignore the financials, you’re missing a big part of what it takes to make a signing or trade happen.

Now, if you’re holding out hope that Beckham becomes a Packer, there still is a chance. If he does unclaimed on waivers, he becomes an unrestricted free agent, allowing him to sign wherever he likes, and to a new deal—meaning, if he wants to come to Green Bay, he could sign a contract that fits under the cap.

We don’t know what level of interest the Green Bay Packers have in adding Beckham but we do know that it won’t happen through waivers. Teams have until 3:00 CST on Monday to put in a claim for Beckham.