Dolphins Cut Veteran Star WR, Could He Help Steelers?
The Miami Dolphins have released veteran wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., in a mutually agreed-to move so that the can find a larger role elsewhere, according to a report by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Could that be with the Pittsburgh Steelers?
Beckham, 32, has played in nine games with Miami this season and has been targeted 18 times. He has nine catches for 55 yards.
As a 31-year-old with the Baltimore Ravens last year, Beckham caught 35 passes for 565 yards and three touchdowns. He was likely assuming similar production when he signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Dolphins this offseason.
Beckham will now be subject to waivers. A claiming team will have to pick up the remainder of his $1.21 million base salary this season, which is fully guaranteed. That works out to a little less than $270,000.
Beckham was a two-time All-Pro, three time Pro Bowler, and has a Super Bowl ring, earned with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. He has settled into a role as a bit-part player after passing the 1,000-yard receiving mark in five of his first six seasons.
Since then, Beckham has gone through a series of health problems that limited him to seven games in 2020. He forced his way out of Cleveland mid-season in 2021, setting up a trade to the Rams, but an injury cost him the entire 2022 season. He played 14 games with Baltimore last season and missed the first four games of this season.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound receiver has not had more than 17 yards receiving in a game this season, as the Miami passing offense struggled with Tua Tagovailoa out with injury. It was expected when Beckham signed in Miami that he’d be the team’s third receiver behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but the extent those two have dominated the target share has been unexpected.
Hill has 97 targets and Waddle has 72, compared to 18 for Beckham, who has been then third-most targeted wide receiver. Tight end Jonnu Smith (78) and running back De’Von Achane (71) have also seen more work than Beckham.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have seemingly been searching for receiver help all season, after trading Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers in March. They did add Mike Williams at the NFL trade deadline, but Williams has had a relatively small impact since joining the team, catching four passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in five games.
That addition has been more than offset by the absence of star wide out George Pickens, who missed last Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns with a hamstring injury, and is expected to miss at least one more game against the Philadelphia Eagles this week, as well.
Beckham and Williams were both among the players that the Steelers could have signed to bolster their wide receiver depth this offseason. Now, they could possibly end up with both of them. Potentially complicating matters for that hope is the fact that the Rams and Ravens have higher waiver priorities than the Steelers right now.
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